Having spent most of November sidelined with injury and watching on from the stands, John McGinn can sympathise with those suffering, spluttering St Mirren supporters.

"I'm moaning like the fans, thinking they're rubbish," he said with a smile. "It's usually me out there getting the brunt of it and thinking 'what's going on?' but it shows it's justified."

Languishing in joint-bottom place in the SPFL Premiership after a fairly gruesome start to the campaign, McGinn, one of about half a dozen key players who have been nursing injuries of late, concedes that it has been hands over the eyes stuff at times.

"It's been tough to watch," added the 20-year-old, who is expected to return to the fold in today's William Hill Scottish Cup tie with Inverness Caledonian Thistle after recovering from a small tear in the meniscus of his knee. "And it's been busy in the stand. We've been struggling to get seats for all the injured ones.

'This is the first time I've really had an injury to cope with. It's been frustrating because we've not won since I've been out. But then we weren't winning when I was in either. You are kicking every ball in the stand."

With a number of players missing, Tommy Craig, the under-pressure St Mirren manager, threw raw recruits Jack Baird and Stephen Mallan into the fray for last weekend's league match in Hamilton. McGinn knows what that can be like.

"It's difficult for them to come into this kind of situation," he said. "It was the same for me when I came in to the team. We had lost six or seven on the bounce then.

"The manager told me I was starting the game and I was bottling it. I was thinking, 'if we lose this they are all going to hate me as well'."

Under previous manager Danny Lennon, St Mirren endured some wretched spells of form but managed to haul themselves out of the mire. With Craig now coming under increasing criticism from all and sundry, McGinn believes the regular clear -the-air meetings the squad hold can eventually lead to a change in fortunes.

"There have been some honest words. We are all in it together, we are all to blame and we have all done things wrong. The manager will admit he's done some things wrong, but he is behind us and we are all behind him."

The Paisley side might be advised to close ranks this afternoon, since they face an Inverness team in the mood to re-enact the cup form which took them all the way to the League Cup final last season. Last term, the Highland club progressed past Dundee, Dundee United and Hearts before falling in the final and Danny Williams is determined to help spark a similar run in Paisley today.

"Last season's experiences definitely whet the appetite for more," said the Inverness winger. "It's a real incentive to do it again this time. We want to get as far as we can.

"You definitely learn as a group from those cup experiences but, above all, getting to the final was a fantastic experience for the lads and you want to experience those highs again. But this weekend will be a very tough one to get through."