Shaughnessy won't get carried away with St Mirren's fine form

Joe Shaughnessy is enjoying St Mirren’s fine run of form but knows football fortunes can quickly change.

The Buddies are unbeaten in 11 matches and sit in eighth place in the Premiership following their 3-2 win over St Johnstone at the weekend with a Betfred Cup semi-final against Livingston to look forward to early next year.

Ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Easter Road to play fourth-placed Hibernian, the 28-year-old former Aberdeen and St Johnstone defender acknowledged that his side were in a good place but remained a little cautious.

He said: “We’ve been on a good run after a spell when a lot of things went wrong maybe in the first couple of months of the season.

“We’ve really turned things around and it’s good it’s all coming together.

“There’s definitely a real feel-good factor around the place.

“Before the recent game against Motherwell (1-0 win on December 12) we were at the bottom of the table so it shows just how quickly it can all change in one week.

“We are up to eighth spot now and it’s so close with Ross County at the bottom only five points behind us.

“That can change over a couple of weeks so we need to keep doing what we are doing and putting in performances like we have been and getting results, then we’ll see what happens.

“Hibs have been really good and that’s to be expected of a club of their size and of the squad they’ve put together.

“They are in really good form at the minute so we know what we are going to get.

“It’ll be a tough game going there but it’s a game to look forward to, especially in the form we are in as well.”

Shaughnessy believes having a fully fit squad available to manager Jim Goodwin is key to the turnaround in results.

The Irishman said: “We have all stuck together and we are all confident in one another’s ability.

“We also have a full squad to pick from and we’re not being hampered by injuries or suspensions.

“There have been no Covid-19 issues recently so hopefully all of that is behind us as well.

“We now have the whole squad to pick from and that’s showing in our performances.

“That’s a massive thing as there isn’t much between the teams. Our game at the weekend could have gone either way so it’s important to have these players to come off the bench who are just as good as the players starting.

“It’s important they can come on and change games just as Kyle McAllister did by setting up two goals, the equaliser and the winner (on Saturday). Jon Obika has come on and scored that winner so it shows how important it is to have a full squad available.”