ST MIRREN midfielder Stephen McGinn believes their last-minute winner could be the catalyst for a remarkable survival bid.

The Paisley side have been written off on plenty of occasions in what has largely been a dismal campaign. But they finally got the break they needed in horrific conditions when Ryan Flynn poked home a last-gasp winner to fire his side to within one point of Dundee in 11th place.

In truth, St Mirren were second best for long spells to a Livingston team who just lacked the scoring instinct. But they dug in and that late goal could mean so much to them as they built on encouraging draws at Aberdeen and Hearts to secure just their third home league win of the season.

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And captain McGinn is determined to kick on from here.

He said: "It feels significant, not even just the last-minute goal, but actually the clean sheet and the way we defended, which gave us such a chance to win the game.

"The way the boys played in the last two away games was brilliant, but we had to back it up with a win. I don't think we ever felt like we were miles away. What we'd lacked was a bit of quality in both boxes but we now look as if we can score goals and keep a clean sheet to build on.

"It was labelled a must-win and I suppose quite a lot of our remaining games are must-win, but it's a strange league in Scotland. We still play Hamilton and Dundee twice, so we've got so many opportunities and cup finals left. But performing well is a nice habit to get into and I can't exaggerate how big the clean sheet is.

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"I tell you what, if you had to pick any team in the world not to play against in those conditions then it would be Livingston. We know Livi well, we know them inside out and know what they are good at. We respect what they do, they're good at it and you have to stand up to it. The boys did that today.

"When the goal went in, I looked at the clock and saw '89' and I've never wished a clock to go faster. But I think if we achieve survival this could probably be the one game that we look back on and say 'That's where we did it. There's still a lot of work to do though. There are massive games to come and we've got to build on this."

Chris Erskine, the Livingston forward, held his hands up after the game after missing a point blank sitter in the first half and then losing possession for the only goal of the game.

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He said: "I've not really got an excuse to be honest. There are a few bodies in the way and I am trying to hit it high, but you should never miss the target from there. No excuses, it was unacceptable and I apologised to the boys at half time. It makes it worse because there were so few chances.

"We should never have lost the game in the final ten minutes.

"We maybe need to think a bit more when we are away from home and maybe think that a point is ok when it's 0-0. Looking at where we are in the league we don't need to chase the three points. Obviously, St Mirren were trying to chase the three points. I think we have got to look at game management a bit better.

"The goal at the end came from me too. The ball cushioned off me and I should maybe have put it out in the stand, like the ball was for 90 per cent of the game."