JIM GOODWIN admits that he remains unsure if Jamie McGrath will be included in his St Mirren squad for tomorrow’s trip to Somerset Park.
The Paisley club face Ayr United in the Scottish Cup but much of the build-up has been focused on the future of McGrath, the Irish playmaker whose deal expires at the end of the season and has been subject to interest from Aberdeen.
The 25-year-old was dropped from the matchday squad as the Buddies recorded their first league win since October with a 2-1 victory at Tannadice on Tuesday night and Goodwin admits he will make a decision later today on whether or not to include his star player in tomorrow’s cup tie.
“Jamie will have been getting all kinds of advice from different areas,” Goodwin explained. “His agent will be telling him one thing, his father - who is influential in the decisions that Jamie makes - will have been telling him something else as well and he's got me telling him something different.
“So he is being pulled in all directions and having spoken to him, he just felt that he wouldn't be in a good place to play the game.
“It was disappointing, don't get me wrong, because he's still contracted to play for St Mirren, but it was a decision I had to make.
“I could have demanded that he did play and he would have played if I'd put my foot down, but due to the situation, I thought the best thing to do was keep him away from it and thankfully it paid off.
“If we had lost, I would have been there to be fired at.
“But I need players here at the club, who are 100 percent committed to St Mirren. That game against Dundee United was far too important to go into with a man down, almost, from the start.
“I was glad that Jamie was honest with me. But at the same time, I think he is being badly advised and there is nothing to suggest that Jamie isn't going to be a St Mirren player when the window shuts and then he's backed himself into a difficult position.
“I've got to focus on the players who are willing to give their all for the team and that was the squad that was there at Tannadice on Tuesday night.”
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