Mark O’Hara ‘struggling’ with cup final on horizon for St Mirren

Mark O’Hara is racing against time to be fit for St Mirren’s Premier Sports Cup final against Celtic at Hampden Park on Sunday week.

The Buddies skipper is struggling to recover from a foot problem that has kept him out since the 4-1 semi-final win against Motherwell at the national stadium at the start of November.

Ahead of the William Hill Premiership game against Dundee United on Saturday, Saints boss Stephen Robinson revealed the 29-year-old midfielder is not progressing as well as hoped.

The Northern Irishman said: “Mark O’Hara will probably be struggling for the cup final.

“He’s just not responded at all to the treatment and injections so we’re going have to look maybe a little bit further into that.

“It’s not by any means certain yet, we’re still investigating.

“We’re still giving it a little bit of time to settle. What you want is the least invasive treatment possible.

“He’s obviously a massive player, the captain of the football club, but we’ve tried numerous different things, it’s not settled down and we’ll look again at the start of next week.

“It’s been lingering. He played through it, he had an injection which worked to an extent.

“And he just hasn’t been able to get through that final stage yet, so we’ll look at it again next week to see if it’s settled down, these things do take time.

“And if not, then it may be a little bit more invasive action, but hopefully not.

“I’m not the expert so I don’t want to make assumptions without giving him every chance.”

St Mirren have only one win in nine but were buoyed by their last-gasp equaliser in the 3-3 draw at Aberdeen on Wednesday night.

Robinson is looking to build on that morale-booster in his bid to get away from second-bottom spot and is adamant no one will be rested for the cup final.

He said: “The cup final is very much in the back of our minds.

“With our league position you’ve got to solely concentrate on what’s in front of you.

“We’ve got enough time to recover after the game so I certainly wouldn’t be looking to save people.

“It’ll be what I feel will be the best team to win the game tomorrow against Dundee United.

“It’s always been very close between the two teams so certainly nobody will be saved for the cup final so to speak. We have to try and win the game in front of us first and foremost.”