JACK ROSS last night walked away from the chance to join Barnsley so he could concentrate on winning promotion with St Mirren.

The 42-year-old spoke to the English championship side on Thursday about becoming their next manager but after some soul-searching opted to stay in Paisley.

We revealed on Wednesday that St Mirren were confident of keeping their manager and while Barnsley would have been in a position to vastly increase Ross’s wages, he himself was not convinced this was the right move for him at this time.

St Mirren, who face second Livingston on Saturday, have opened up a 14-point lead at the top of the Championship with even their closest rivals have all-but conceded the title to them.

And hee wants to be there when they win the league.

A factor in Ross thinking is that Barnsley are in the relegation places in the English championship; however, the biggest reason is the bond Jack has built with St Mirren who lured him Alloa Athletic in October 2016.

St Mirren chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick said this week that come the summer he expected 100 clubs to enquire about Ross, who captained the club during his playing days.

And while Ross is expected to move on eventually, with down south or to one of the bigger Premiership sides, St Mirren supporters can take comfort in the fact they their team are not going to lose its figurehead when promotion is so close.