JOHN McGINN has paid a glowing tribute to St Mirren striker Steven Thompson after the veteran's weekend double dragged the Paisley side out of the SPFL Premiership relegation play-off slot.

Despite being asked, at 35, to plough the lone forward's furrow for most of the season, the former Rangers ace has repeatedly come up with the goods when his hometown club have needed them most.

He had endured a three-game barren streak prior to the must-win meeting with Motherwell and the fatigue of a long season had looked to be getting to Thompson.

But the Paisley hitman dug deep to produce a bristling performance against the Steelmen and on another day could have had a hat-trick.

Now midfield tyro McGinn has no doubt how important Thompson's continued good health will be for the Buddies over the remaining five games of the post-split sequence.

McGinn said: "Everyone knows what a massive player Stevie Thompson is for us, but it is not just about the goals he scores, it is about the way he leads the team from the front.

"Thommo's work rate is exceptional for a guy at this stage in his career and you never get anything less than total commitment from him.

"If you look at the goals he has scored for us over his three seasons at St Mirren Park then he has got to be one of the best signings the manager (Danny Lennon) has ever made.

"He scored two against Motherwell but he had a couple of other really good efforts that Gunnar Nielsen did really well to save.

"That is down to Stevie's positional sense inside the box. He just seems to be able to anticipate where the ball will break and if he gets on the end of it he nearly always hits the target.

"We have five games left and hopefully the two goals Stevie got against Motherwell will give him the platform to kick-on with a few more down the home straight. But as a midfielder he just offers you a great out ball and is always encouraging the younger players."

It was McGinn's own relentless harrying and accurate close-range pass that set-up Thompson for the winner against crestfallen Well last time out.

Modest to a fault, the 19-year-old must surely be the top-flight's most consistent teenage performer and Buddies boss Lennon deserves credit for his decision not only to give McGinn his breakthrough but then continue playing him, come hail or shine, despite his tender years.

Undoubtedly the legs and ingenuity the youngster gives the Saints midfield will also be vital over the final push for SPFL Premiership safety.

With seventh-placed Hibs next up in Paisley on Saturday week, and three of their final five matches on home soil, McGinn admits that Saints have been given the best possible chance to escape the play-offs.

He said: "We have Hibs and Ross County coming to us and then Hearts on the final day, so the post-split fixture card has been good to us.

"Our home form prior to the Motherwell game had not been good. But now we must use that performance as a platform going into the post-split.

"The great thing for us is that our fate is in our hands."