Teale Focused On Saints Survival

Photo by Jeff Holmes Four wins from his 14 games in charge has hardly put a smile on Gary Teale's face - but the rookie St Mirren manager insists he is still relishing the task of saving the Paisley outfit from relegation. The former Scotland winger replaced former Buddies boss Tommy Craig in December but is fast running out of time to rescue Saints. With nine Scottish Premiership games left, Motherwell are a point in front, while Ross County's five-game unbeaten run has given the Staggies a four-point cushion over the basement boys. The tension is cranked up with every missed opportunity to claw back ground on their rivals and Teale admits it took him 24 hours to "get over" last week's last-gasp 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock. With the Saints board still desperately trying to find a buyer five-and-a-half years after putting the club on the market, dropping into the Championship could prove a fatal blow. But despite having to deal with that pressure while juggling a family life, Teale insists he has had no second thoughts about launching his managerial career with Saints. The former Wigan and Derby forward - whose side travel to St Johnstone on Saturday - said: "This job consumes everything in your life. I wanted to do this job so you've got to take it on board that it will be like that. "The fans work all week and want to see a result or a performance when they come to the game on a Saturday. So I'm the figurehead, I'm the one with the responsibility. "I need to step up and do the best I can do. I feel we have been doing that but yet here I am, talking about another hard-luck story from last week. "Those sort of results don't change my view on the job though. I've really enjoyed it - as much as I can with where we are sitting in the league anyway. "It's difficult with the position we are sitting in right now but I wouldn't swap it for anything. This is something I want to do and to continue to do. "I'm so lucky to have my wife and kids supporting me with the way they are. They just let me get on with it. "I try and switch off as much as I can because this job can be 24/7. If you win, then great. But if you don't the disappointment carries on. "But I try to make sure I'm giving the family as much attention as I can after the game on a Saturday. "That's what I'm doing all this for - to provide for my family like everybody else does." But even if disaster does strike, Teale believes relegation should not spell the end of his reign. "I would like to think I would still hold onto the job, even if we went down," he said. "I look at the circumstances we had when I took over, the hard-luck stories with referees and then the January transfer window where we tried to get some players in but also ended up losing Kenny McLean. "I don't want to make excuses but that is the reality of things. I do feel we have had a lot of positive performances and on another day we could be sitting here off the bottom of the league. "That's in the past though. I don't want to look back - I want to look forward. "I feel we have more than enough that, come the end of the season, whether it be the play-off spot or third bottom, we will get there."