Premiership club's injury woes deepen before Hearts as dislocated shoulder and transfer blow raise concerns

St Mirren are dealing with mounting injury concerns ahead of Wednesday’s game with Hearts - as several key stars are set to miss the Tynecastle clash.

The Buddies come to Tynecastle in the next Premiership test for the league leaders, and Stephen Robinson’s side don’t have their issues to seek. After winning the Premier Sports Cup last month, St Mirren have suffered a drop in form, losing their last two games 2-0 to Motherwell then Falkirk. Some of the reason for that has been an escalating injury situation that has gripped boss Stephen Robinson’s ranks.

Alex Gogic is due to return from suspension but fellow midfielders Killian Phillips and Liam Donnelly alongside goalkeeper Shamal George have been added to the list of players likely to miss the game at Tynecastle. Key players in Mark O’Hara, Keanu Baccus and Jonah Ayunga are already out long-term with a new forward due to be signed also suffering injury on Friday. Robinson was dismayed by the performance at home to Falkirk on Saturday but injuries have not helped his cause.

Who will return for St Mirren vs Hearts?

He told club media: “We've had seven, arguably starters, out. Alex Gogic , Killian came off half-time with a dislocated shoulder. Keanu Baccus, Mark O'Hara, Liam Donnelly limped off as well. Add Jonah Ayunga, add Shamal George into that as well. So no team can cope with that. No team can cope with that level of the spine of your team missing.

“I haven't recognised the last two performances. The team that was in the cup final played with quality, belief, desire, energy. It's really hard for me to explain the last two performances. I feel extremely let down that I got that level of performance. Sometimes you play poorly and make bad decisions. The lack of energy and desire was not acceptable. I told them that we need to get back to doing what we do and that wasn't good enough.

“The injuries have, of course, affected us. We need help. The boys that have knocked on my door consistently for six months wanting to know why they're not playing, they haven't stepped up, simple. They need to in the coming weeks because we haven't got anybody else. There will be nobody coming back from injury bar Gogic who'll come back from suspension, which is a massive plus for us. Outside Miguel Freckleton, I don't think anyone can come out holding their head high, including myself by the way. I'm not distancing myself from that performance. I feel very, very let down and it's very difficult to put your finger on the level of performance, and the decision-making.

What are most recent St Mirren injuries?

“We have to come up with the answers on Monday because there's no hiding place. We haven't become a bad team in two games. We've got injuries but all those players and their agents that rang me and said why are they not in the team, it’s time to step up. We need the board to help us, which they will. We need the recruitment to be brought in as soon as possible.

“We need help and we need it now. Killian's dislocated his shoulder, he wanted to stay on and play but that could put him out for a long, long time. We will have that assessed and scanned. Shamal George, knee injury, we'll have that scanned. Liam Donnelly, calf, again, very difficult to give timelines, but I will say they won't be fit for Wednesday night.

“Probably to round off our weekend, the boy that we had agreed to deal with, centre forward. He got injured in training on Friday. Had an MRI scan, so we're waiting for the results of that. So it's been a weekend where I think absolutely everything went wrong. I have to come back and find a solution to that. That's my job and I have to get to the bottom of why the players played with absolutely no confidence.”