Jimmy Thelin spoke to the media on Friday lunchtime ahead of our William Hill Premiership match with St Mirren in Paisley. RedTV subscribers can watch in full now.

“For team news, we have 21 players in the squad for tomorrow. Dante is back inside the squad. Otherwise I think everybody has more or less prepared for the game. Angus has a small issue there so he can’t be inside the game tomorrow. Otherwise everybody is available, except from Pape.

“Dante has trained well, that is why we travel with 21 players for tomorrow. Let’s see who we choose. We have quite an intense period now in two blocks, we have five games now and then we go again. I think it’s good to have as many players as possible available and they also have different qualities. To keep the intensity high inside the team and make some changes when we can. That’s good to have the options.

“I can’t remember how many weeks Dante was training until he got injured. He started well in the training camp. The last part of last season he did really well. It’s good to have this quality. He also has different characteristics than the other players. It’s a good weapon for us also to use in different positions on the pitch.

“It’s a good team we are going to play against. They are really direct in their approach to the game. It’s a compact team that is well organised. They have good parts to their game and how they create chances. We have to be ready and strong in our defence but also with the ball we have to be clever and how we can attack them in a good way.

“Even if there has been a break or not, it’s always a new game, a new opponent. That’s why it’s so important how we train and that we have a clear identity with what we want to achieve as a team and try to improve that basics of our game all of the time and be consistent in these parts. During the season we have to improve things and add things. Still we are in the phase that we have to be more consistent in some parts and grow in some areas as a team. I think we are on the right path of course but still we have things we have to be more consistent with every week. Even if we change the starting eleven or change during the games, we always try to build it better with the basics first then we can keep growing in other parts of the game.

“The ground staff here have done really well so there has been no interruption to training. The pitch is really good so we’re happy with that. We could prepare as usual and have good sessions even if there was some snow and wind but the pitch was really good.

“You always have to respect the opponent and the opposition managers because they also have plans and they’re doing a good job. That’s football and that’s why it’s so exciting. How we think about it is mostly about ourselves. How we want to attack different types of opponents. If they play a low, medium or high block. What are our basics things and try to be better than that. Then it’s small adjustments but the main focus is on ourselves and how we grow and how we can use our qualities and attack the opponents weaknesses or defend against the strength. Of course we analyse the opponents and where the strengths are because you have to, this is football. The main focus is on ourselves.

“It’s the first time that I’ve been to St Mirren. It’s an away game and we know we have to do some things really good to get the points. As usual for us we have to adapt to the situation and focus on our strengths and prepare for them and be humble. There are no easy games in this league. We know that. There are a lot of tough games that we’ve played so far and we have to put the work onto the pitch and try to be a strong team and focus on these parts.

“The good part of this is that the players stay connected (substitutes scoring goals). Maybe some players haven’t played so much but they are connected with the team and they know they are important. That’s the thing about being a team. You need everyone. I like the spirit the players share between them. Sometimes they only play five minutes but they do important things on the pitch and they understand it’s important. That’s the most important thing for me, they have this team spirit and how they support each other, how they work for each other and take responsibility.”