A SUCCESSFUL player-coach does not stay in the job for long.

Gary Teale has discovered as much. The former Scotland winger became part of Tommy Craig's management team at St Mirren in the summer, with designs on balancing the demands of coaching with playing every week.

Injury, though, has limited his first-team appearances this season, meaning he has devoted most of his time to coaching, cajoling and encouraging the next crop of aspirants to emerge from the club's successful youth academy. Now 36 years old, he is already harbouring thoughts of hanging up his boots but that decision may be expedited should those benefiting from his coaching experience continue to keep him out of the side.

"There was a problem with my knee so I had a cartilage operation four weeks ago to clear everything out," said Teale, whose side take on Dundee United at Tannadice this afternoon. "On the plus side, being out of contention has helped me focus a bit more on coaching - it allowed me to step back from the playing side and you see a lot more when you're not actually taking part in the sessions. So that's been part of the learning curve.

"Now I'm fine and I still want to play. Obviously, I'm not going to go on forever and if our results had been better and we were flying high then that might have persuaded me to pack in playing and concentrate on the next stage of my career. But the way we are, allied to the injuries we've had, have meant that I still feel I can contribute as a player.

"But I'm 36 and had a decent career and now I've got a duty to go and help these young boys coming through. I still want to play but you don't want to sit in there and be a blocker. If you see a young boy coming up then at some point you need to step aside. You need to give these young boys a chance to flourish."

Teale, who amassed 13 Scotland caps, has enjoyed a wandering career which started in Clydebank then included stops at Ayr United, Wigan Athletic, Derby County, Plymouth Argyle, Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday before alighting at St Mirren in 2011. He knows the end is nigh but does not want to end his playing days prematurely.

"I've spoken to a number of people in the game and they've all advised me to keep going," said Teale. "Even if I'm not getting a game, their advice has been to always make myself available. In an ideal world, I'll decide when to quit and it'll probably be because my body can't take any more but it might be that Tommy makes the decision for me."

Teale recalls the advice given to him by esteemed figures such as Ken Eadie and Davie Cooper when he was starting out at Clydebank 20 years ago and hopes now to do likewise to the young players emerging at St Mirren.

"The biggest thing they would say is 'just work hard.' Believe in yourself and have a thick skin to take all the flak that comes your way. You won't get anywhere if you do not work hard and listen to the older boys who have been there and done it.

"Sometimes coaches are just frustrated players and you are trying to play the game for them. Sometimes the players need to go and make their own decisions. Let them make their own decisions and hopefully they learn from them."

That is a sentiment which has been under scrutiny at Tannadice this week, with Paul Paton and Mark Wilson both under investigation at United following the alleged assault of Celtic goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska in Glasgow last month.

Paton was arrested and is due to appear before Glasgow Sheriff Court later this month, but the midfielder was named in the starting line-up when United faced Hibernian in the League Cup quarter-finals earlier this week.

Jackie McNamara, the United manager, believes it is time to move on from the incident and put the focus back on the football, with his team third place in the SPFL Premiership table. "The players have been dealt with, it's closed. We get on with it now," he said.

McNamara may be obliged to pass judgement on Conor Townsend too, after the on-loan Hull City defender acknowledged that he may consider extending his stay at United. He will be a free agent in the summer.

"I want to put myself in the shop window," he said. "I would never rule anything out, so I would consider staying in Scotland longer."