Hello and welcome to your bespoke St Mirren newsletter by David Irvine as Alex Gogic new contract is far from the End Game...

Alex Gogic is St Mirren's Iron Man but other Paisley Avengers deserve credit too 🦸

Six players have played every single minute in the Scottish Premiership this season. Five of them are goalkeepers.

The other is Alex Gogic.

St Mirren boast having two players in the everpresent rankings with Zach Hemming also featuring in every second of the campaign to date.

For Hemming and the other four goalkeepers it is no small feat to play every minute - for Gogic to do it is simply ridiculous.

The Cypriot defender - who signed a new three-year deal this week - is the Iron Man in this St Mirren team.

Week-in, week-out. He's always there.

And it's in no way down to circumstance that Gogic has been so constant in the St Mirren rearguard - Stephen Robinson has options but has never been able to overlook the 30-year-old.

Gogic's contribution this season, in terms of pure minutes played and performance level, has been superhuman. That's why I confidently branded his new deal as the best business St Mirren will do this summer.

But Gogic has been no lone superhero for St Mirren this season - even if he has, understandably, claimed much of the limelight.

Forget Avengers Assemble, unless it is into a back-five at the SMiSA Stadium because that is where another unsung hero features.

Hemming and Gogic haven't missed a minute, Marcus Fraser has only been off the pitch for half-an-hour.

Often under-appreciated for the stellar job he has done for a number of seasons now, vice-captain (America) Fraser deserves some praise for his tireless shift in the backline under Robinson.

The manager even previously heralded Fraser as his best defender for a significant spell just weeks after question marks over his future at the club.

With that in mind, Fraser is well overdue praise for his performances - even if he is sometimes wrongly beaten over his stable not spectacular displays.

In many ways his development is a microcosm of St Mirren's improvement as a whole - alone he mightn't be recognised enough, but as a collective alongside his defensive deputies he's been a top player.

To have a settled goalkeeper and two centre-backs is absolutely necessary for a successful season but that's not the End Game for St Mirren in the workhorse stakes this term.

The final St Mirren player to play more than 3000 minutes this league term is Scott Tanser - according to StatsBomb. The wing-back has received plaudits for his performances as a fundamental attacking threat on the left flank.

On top of his five assists and one goal, Tanser has proven a more than capable defender - perhaps benefitting from the back three offering him more freedom to surge forward.

He hammered home at the weekend against Dundee in a crucial victory in the quest for European football - does that make him Thor in this laboured SMiSA cinematic universe metaphor?

There is no question that St Mirren have benefitted from a settled platform this season - consistency and relationships ever-strengthening in the defence allow the forward players to flourish.

That's what Hemming, Gogic, Fraser and Tanser have contributed this season - much-needed stability, not to mention their obvious skill to play in Robinson's system.

In a final stab at forcing an Avengers connection, this weekend could be described as somewhat of an Infinity War for the Buddies. Kilmarnock are regular foes and villains of the piece in Paisley. But at the movies, the good guys always win in the end right?

AND ANOTHER THING

It has been a thrill to see some of St Mirren's young talent thrive out on loan this season.

Fraser Taylor was named Ballymena United player of the year after he helped the Northern Irish club avoid relegation with victory in the play-off final.

Luke Kenny tasted success in Northern Ireland lifting the Irish Cup with Cliftonville after coming off the bench at half time.

This weekend there will be more St Mirren kids in action with Gallagher Lennon and Kieran Offord on opposite sides in the League One play-off semi-final.

Lennon's Dumbarton hold a 2-1 lead going into the second-leg at Forthbank this weekend.