STEVEN THOMPSON has revealed that he considered walking away from football before agreeing a new one-year deal with St Mirren.

The 36-year-old striker was part of the side relegated from the SPFL Premiership and admits that it took a degree of soulsearching before he made the decision to stay on and try to get them back to the top flight.

"After the disappointment of last year, being relegated, I took some time to think about whether I wanted to continue playing or not and I think the answer is 'yes' to that," he told STV.

"I had a couple of offers, but St Mirren are the club I want to play for, so I'm delighted to have sorted it out and come back here for yet another year."

Ian Murray, the St Mirren manager, is convinced that Thompson will be a force to be reckoned with in the SPFL Championship when he gets himself into the right condition.

"There wasn't a lot of negotiations to be done," said Murray. "He wanted to stay and we wanted to keep him.

"First and foremost, we have to get him fit. Once he is fit, it's about keeping him fit. Once he's up to maximum level, there's no doubting he'll score goals for us."