Jack Ross on signing St Mirren players for Hibs: 'I like trust and those with the potential to improve'

Jack Ross has spoken about his time at St Mirren, saying that he loved his time in Paisley and hopes he repaid the club’s faith in him.

Jack Ross with fellow ex-St Mirren man Craig Samson

The Buddies are at Easter Road this weekend looking for a first win against Hibs in the Capital since 2016 and while Ross has fond memories of his time in charge, he will be fully focused on extending the Hibees’ winning run.

“St Mirren fans might have a different opinion, but it’s a club that I felt was good for me and I felt I repaid that,” he said as he previewed the Scottish Premiership clash.

“Naturally as time goes on and you sign players from there things change a little bit. I don’t want to sound arrogant by saying I don’t care about what St Mirren fans think.

“I still speak to people at the club like Tony Fitzpatrick. I loved my time there, and the success we had in gaining promotion was brilliant. It meant a huge amount to me.

“But I moved on and St Mirren fans support their team, they don’t support me, but that’s not to say I don’t care about St Mirren.”

Three former Buddies could start for Hibs in Jake Doyle-Hayes, Kyle Magennis, and Paul McGinn and Ross laughed when asked about the number of players making the trip from PA3 to Albion Road.

“We look for good players and I don’t have a bottomless pit, so I have to be smart in terms of where we recruit from.

“I think the only St Mirren player I signed who I didn’t know was Jake. I gave Kyle his debut; I worked with Paul at Dumbarton and signed him for St Mirren before I left for Sunderland.

“Stephen McGinn had been released so technically I never signed him from St Mirren. He was a free agent!

“I think if you look back at how I’ve recruited throughout all my jobs, I like trust. I also look at the potential of players to improve.

“The good players we’ve taken from St Mirren are the ones on the pitch at the moment; the ones who used to play there and were bad players became coaches: myself, John Potter and Craig Samson!”

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