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McLeish on Ayunga setback, raised expectations & Hibs

St Mirren boss Craig McLeish has been speaking to the media before his side host Hibs on Wednesday night (19:45 GMT).

Here are the main lines:

  • Striker Jonah Ayunga has suffered a setback in his return from an ACL injury and requires a further "tidy up" operation on Thursday which means he won't play again this year.

  • Australia midfielder Keanu Baccus is back on the grass training following his Achilles injury, striker Niko Agrafiotis, who tore a calf muscle, will be out until mid-December while Paul Nsio will miss the Hibs match because of illness.

  • McLeish is adamant it's "exciting" the bar has been raised for St Mirren in recent years, as the club have won a trophy and played in Europe, but admits he was warned not to take the job due to the success of his predecessor Stephen Robinson.

  • McLeish explains: "From my point of view it helps, it's exciting. I had people speak to me about that and there was a bit of chat about it even before Stephen left. You don't want to be following Stephen Robinson, arguably the best manager in our modern history. That might put some people off but for me it's exciting. He's set a really high standard and a really high bar at the club and I want to take that on and reach those levels and surpass them if we can. "

  • McLeish had a lengthy chat with Robinson after St Mirren's recent game at Pittodrie: "We had such a good relationship. I'm sure he would always be there if I needed him, if I ever reached out to him. He's been great with me and he was great with me before and after the game at Aberdeen as well. "

  • McLeish says it hasn't been hard dealing with the ups and downs of football this season as "criticism is part of the game; you can't listen to it or it just consumes you".

  • He, and the players, have just been trying to focus on what they can control and weren't too high when they started the season with three league wins and a draw in their first four games and subsequently weren't too low when they lost five in a row prior to the weekend win over Dundee. "It was a tough run but we've been in a good place," McLeish maintains.

  • The St Mirren manager hasn't had any previous contact with new Hibs boss Marink Reedijk but knows his first-team coach, Brian McLaughlin, who "got me involved with the youth national teams and has been a big part of my own coaching journey as well".

  • McLeish expects a strong performance from bottom club Hibs in Paisley as they have a new manager, "a lot of very good players" and will "know how to dig themselves out" of their current run of three consecutive defeats.

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