JAMES MARWOOD is ready to help St Mirren prove that they are better than their league position suggests - by beating champions Celtic.

Ronny Deila's side come to Paisley in Saturday's early kick-off to face a home side who have lost six of their first eight games this season.

That dismal run has left the Buddies dangling in 11th place, just above SPFL Premiership bottom club Ross County.

The latest defeat inflicted on Tommy Craig's men came in a dreich League Cup third-round clash at Firhill on Tuesday.

The tie remained goalless until extra-time, when it was finally settled by Thistle sub Nathan Eccleston's goal.

Despite the Saints manager admitting his players put in a flat performance against the Jags, Marwood insists they did enough to deserve to make it into the quarter-finals.

And with the misfiring Celts next up on league duty, the former Gateshead forward told SportTimes this could be the perfect time for St Mirren to bounce back in style.

Marwood said: "I'm looking forward to facing Celtic. We all are because we want to get our performances right and put more wins on the board.

"No disrespect to Celtic, but it is probably a decent time to play them at the moment as they're not steamrolling teams like they have done in the past.

"We can do better as a team and hopefully we can manage a draw or even a win.

"We have a point to prove. Anyone who has watched our games knows we're better than our league position suggests.

"But we're down there for a reason and we need to prove to people we're better than that."

The Saints had gone into Tuesday's League Cup tie in high spirits after having won their first league game of the season four nights previously at the same venue.

Many around the club had hoped last Friday's dramatic 2-1 victory would signal the start of a successful run for the struggling Buddies.

However, it was a familiar tale for Saints once again as they failed to capitalise when in control of the match.

Marwood added: "I thought we did alright, but alright isn't good enough for us just now.

"You simply have to be more resolute than that in a cup match to scrape out a goal.

"I know it's disappointing to be losing pretty much week in, week out, but I think that we probably deserved to lose only two of those games.

"In every other match this season we should have nicked a draw or a win.

"This week's League Cup tie at Firhill was the most disappointing of them all because I really feel we should have got something from the game. We should have been stronger.

"There is no doubt that when you are in the relegation zone your confidence is smashed.

"So it was a real boost to win at Firhill last Friday with a last-minute goal.

"We were hoping to come back to Glasgow and do the same again in the cup, but we couldn't manage it."