GARY TEALE reckons his St Mirren starlets can be the silver lining in the dark cloud that hangs over the club as they get set to drop out of the Premiership.

A 3-0 defeat to Partick Thistle on Saturday was the latest in a long line of disappointing days at the office for the Buddies boss and his side will officially be relegated if Motherwell beat Kilmarnock on Friday night.

It was a mixture of youth and experience that took to the field at Firhill as the likes of Jack Baird, Thomas Reilly and Stevie Mallan were handed starts, while midfielder Adam Brown came off the bench against the Jags.

Boss Teale will give his young talents more chances to shine in the closing weeks of the campaign and he is confident it will stand them in good stead for their Championship promotion bid next time out.

He said: "We have one eye on the future and the young boys - like Jack, Jason [Naismith], Thomas, Adam. We have got to look to the future and a couple of the younger ones so that the fans can think, looking ahead to next season, that things can be bright.

"We will need to add a few to that as well, but the future is bright with the boys that are coming through from the Academy, so there is a bit of positivity there hopefully.

"With the young ones that are here, added to the ones that I would like to bring in, I think the future could be positive.

"It needs a fresh start going forward to rejuvenate it to get that energy, drive and desire within the team and go forward.

"We are clinging on to our Premiership status just now, but if we do end up in the Championship, we want to go there and have a young, vibrant squad.

"Look at Hearts and what they have achieved this year. We want to go forward."