Teale: Everything back to normal

Photo by Jeff Holmes

Gary Teale insists training at St Mirren is back to normal following the freak injury to John McGinn last Thursday.

The Buddies boss revealed there was an "eerie silence'' at the club's Ralston base when captain Steven Thompson pierced 20-year-old midfielder's thigh with a spiked pole which resulted in him missing Saturday's 4-1 home win over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership and being ruled out for the "next few'' matches.

The Paisley club are seven points adrift of Motherwell at the bottom of the table with four games remaining - the first of which is at Partick Thistle on Saturday - and Teale revealed preparations have gone along usual lines.

"Training has been fine,'' he said.

"There was an eerie silence when it happened.

"There was shock and disbelief and we had a 10 to 15 minute break before we got back into it.

"I won't say it is one of those things because it is not one of those things. You never expect that to happen.

"It was a moment of madness but in terms of high jinks, banter - you want them to have an enjoyable place of work - everything carries on as normal.

"They have been great and they got the performance on Saturday.

"To lose John is a massive blow but I need to make sure he is back fit as soon as possible.

"The scans showed a tear in his muscle, which was the best-case scenario.

"Obviously it is not the usual muscle injury you would get but hopefully he will be back fit as soon as possible.''

Teale is looking for St Mirren to finish the season with four wins and then see "where it takes us''.

"We need to try to win every game,'' he said.

"That is all I am concentrating on and that's what I have been saying to the players.

"I want the players to play with a freedom until the end of the season and hopefully we can win the four games and see where it takes us.''