Tommy Craig: Board continue to back me

Under-fire St Mirren boss Tommy Craig insists he still has the backing of the Buddies board.

The Paisley strugglers have gone two months without a win, sit joint-bottom of the Scottish Premiership and crashed out of the William Hill Scottish Cup after a four-goal drubbing from Inverness on Tuesday.

Furious Saints fans took to Twitter after that calamitous fourth-round replay to voice their outrage.

But Craig believes he still has the support of chairman Stewart Gilmour as he insisted he is still the man to turn St Mirren around.

He said: There is no doubt at all about the board's support. They have been very supportive and I just crack on with the job at hand.

I talk to the guys on the board on a daily basis and nothing has ever changed. We talk about what is coming up and plan ahead.

But they have always been very supportive.''

The criticism from his own supporters has been a prickly issue with the 64-year-old. He refused to apologise for his side's recent displays when he appeared at last week's annual general meetings after accusing sections of the Paisley faithful of hurling vitriolic abuse'' at him from the stands.

But he admitted on Thursday, as he faced the press ahead of Saturday's clash with St Johnstone - the last side the Buddies beat - that he could not carry on without the fans' backing.

Both the support of the board and the fans are essential,'' he said.Fans are the same all over the world. You have got your very, very supportive ones and then you have got that minority who can go overboard at times.

But that's not surprising - and that goes for fans all over the world.''

Craig's task was hardly helped by a nightmare list of injuries which ruled skipper Steven Thompson out for three months as well as a number of other important figures.

But with Thompson - last season's top scorer - now back in the side along with recent injury victims John McGinn and Isaac Osbourne, Craig's worries are relenting.

Now his main priority is to help pick his players' sagging confidence levels up off the floor as they look for their first home win since May.

Craig said: For about two months my big beef was us playing well but not taking chances. But now we're not playing well.

That is down to a lack of confidence and I have to give them the confidence.

I know how good these players can be but it is quite some time since we have had that result at home.

I try to get them to look forward to the next game and believe that it will be the start of our season. But as time moves on we really, really do need to get a home win for the fans.

Have I ever doubted if I could turn this around? No. I have been in the game too long for that to happen. I've been in this position more than once.

Positivity comes from your own self-belief and I have got to give that to the players.

The last four weeks have been tough not only because we have lost results, but also because we haven't played well. You can always take something out of a game if you have played well.

But never during that run have I thought we won't get back to what I know we can do.''