St Mirren’s poor start to the season has brought their players closer together than ever and united them behind manager Alex Rae, according to midfielder Stevie Mallan.

The Buddies slumped to the bottom of the Championship table last weekend after going down to Queen of the South at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.

Mallan maintains though that the spirit among the St Mirren players can help them to turn their season around, starting at Dumbarton today.

“We bought into it last season when [Alex Rae] took over from Ian Murray, and the gaffer was a breath of fresh air.

“The boys enjoyed it and we’re still enjoying it just now, it’s just when it comes to league games I don’t know what’s been going wrong and we’ve not been getting the wins.

“I don’t know why, because nothing has changed from last season, but hopefully we can figure out soon what is happening before it’s too late.

“I think what has happened around the club has brought us closer together.

“It’s brought into focus that we need to get a few wins in the league, and the boys are coming together to try and suss it out.

“I know it’s a low point for us just now, but I think it’s brought us a lot closer together as we try to get that win.

“I’d say we are a Premiership club and we should be aiming to get there sooner rather than later.

“I know the fans are a bit disappointed, as they should be, but it’s something that we have to try and figure out on our own and try to get the wins as soon as possible.”

Mallan hopes that the St Mirren board will show patience and avoid making any knee-jerk reactions over their managerial team’s position due to their poor opening to their campaign.

“You saw what they did last season, taking us from near enough bottom all the way up, so nothing should really have changed from last season to this,” he said.

“I’d say we’ve got an even better squad with the boys the gaffer has brought in. I know some of them are young, but it’s a mixed group and the boys all have quality.

“We shouldn’t be where we are at the bottom of the league just now, but it’s only four or five games in and we’re only six points off fourth.

“We don’t want to make any rash decisions too soon, because definitely there will be a big change.

“I’d say it’s just a matter of time. When the gaffer came in last season it took us a couple of games to get going but when we did we got ourselves back up the league.

“It’s just about trying to get that happening as soon as possible, because you don’t want to be towards the bottom of the league around Christmas time, because that’s when it starts to get a bit nervy for the boys.”

Mallan says that his own form hasn’t suffered from speculation linking him with a move away from the club, with Dundee credited with an interest in securing his services during the summer transfer window.

“Speculation doesn’t affect me,” he said. You’re going to get speculation in your career and it’s just how you brush it off.

“All my focus is on St Mirren, and unless something concrete happens then that’s when I’ll start thinking about it.

“It’s never really bothered me, it’s all about St Mirren and focusing on training hard because we know we’ve had a bad start to the season.

“It wasn’t too much of a problem for me.”