Kelly Not Worried By Home Form
St Mirren defender Sean Kelly insists the Buddies are not scared of playing in front of their own supporters.
Photo by Jeff Holmes
St Mirren defender Sean Kelly insists the Buddies are not scared of playing in front of their own supporters. Tommy Craig's side have lost all five of their Scottish Premiership clashes at St Mirren Park this term. And the Paisley public have also been starved of goalmouth action, with Kenny McLean's strike in the 2-1 defeat to Celtic last month the only time they have found the back of the net in front of the home fans this season. But Kelly says it is their opponents' tactics and not the pressure of playing on home soil which has hampered Saints. He said: "It's not at the stage where it is worrying us yet. Obviously we need to improve and quickly. Hopefully we will get the result we need this weekend because it is a big game. "If we get that one result, we will kick on from there. But we need to go out and get it. "I'm not sure why we have struggled at home. Everyone is together here - the players, the manager and the fans. We all have a common goal which is to win games. "It's just one of those things really. Once we get that win, that will be the burden out of the road. "Obviously all our points have come away from home so far but I don't think that has got anything to do with the fans or the stadium or the pressure of playing at home. It's just a coincidence. "Some teams can find it easier playing away from home but that's not the case here. We prefer playing at home because you have got your own fans backing you. They give you the extra energy to keep going. "Away from home there is less expectation on you but at home, teams will come in and make it tough and then it's up to us to break them down." Saints have been ordered in for extra shooting practice by boss Craig ahead of Saturday's pivotal showdown with top-flight basement boys Ross County. St Mirren are just three points ahead of the bottom club but with just 10 games played so far Kelly is not dubbing the match a relegation battle just yet. The Scotland Under-21 left-back said: "It's far too early to be talking about relegation. "We know we need to pick up our form and improve defensively and going forward. We've not scored enough goals or kept enough clean sheets. "That's not a good recipe but we believe in what we are doing. Hopefully things will come good."