ST MIRREN manager Tommy Craig accepts his team must start putting points on the board soon as his side and Ross County are in danger of becoming detached at the foot of the table.

Saints were expected to compete against the likes of Hamilton Accies, Dundee and Partick Thistle for the battle to avoid the drop but already trail league-leading Accies by 13 points and Dundee by 10, while they would also fall 10 behind the Jags with defeat at Firhill tomorrow night.

With the bottom team in the Premiership relegated and second- bottom likely to face a tough play-off for survival against either Rangers or Hearts, Craig knows his team have to start picking up points after starting the campaign with five successive league defeats.

The beleaguered Buddies boss said: "There are some good stories there - Hamilton's a great story, this early. Dundee and Partick as well. Three teams who had question marks against them staying up, and at the moment they're performing better than 'can they stay up?'

"Who knows what'll happen down the line but there's a gap there and it's one we're not happy about. We need to try and reduce it as soon as possible."

After succeeding Danny Lennon as manager, Craig revealed he wanted his team to play with a certain style. And despite having no points on the board after five games, scoring just once in the process, he sees no reason to deviate from that stance.

He added: "The philosophy's not the problem. It's the end bit. We can get from back to front playing football, but the reason you get there is to score a goal.

"We've played our football from the goalkeeper and ended up with a chance to score and we haven't put it away. And when you don't score, people then question the philosophy but I don't see why people do that. I can't understand it.

"The fact is we've passed the ball and put the ball into an area we want it to be in, it's only the final bit that hasn't happened. So why should I question my philosophy when we're getting to those areas?

"There have been times the ball's been knocked down the channels but I can't deviate from something I believe in and something that's worked before.

"There's not too much difference between the training now and the training we were doing prior to the cup final 18 months ago. It's pretty much the same."