Boss Oran Kearney is looking for international inspiration from Duckens Nazon as St Mirren resume their fight for Ladbrokes Premiership survival.
The 24-year-old striker, on loan from Sint-Truiden in Belgium, scored a terrific goal for Haiti in their 2-1 CONCACAF Nations League qualifying win against Cuba on Sunday.
The victory clinched qualification to League A and entry to the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Ahead of the rearranged Ladbrokes Premiership game against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night – the original fixture before the international break was called off due to the weather – Kearney is hoping Nazon has been boosted sufficiently to help get the Buddies off the bottom of the table, where they sit one point behind Dundee.
He said: “I have seen footage of the goal and it is a fantastic goal.
“It can be double-edged when they go on international duty.
“You run the risk of injury or overuse.
“But also, if they arrive back on the back of success like that and the euphoria that comes with that, you are hoping that they will carry that into their form and matches here.”
Victory over the Perth side and against Dundee on Saturday would take the Buddies five points clear of the Dens Park side but Kearney insists he has not “really looked too far ahead.”
He said: “The focus is to make sure we get a big performance tomorrow night.
“Tomorrow night can be a huge catalyst for Saturday so it is so important that we take care of what is in front of our nose first us first and if that is the case then Saturday will look after itself.
“Our destiny is in our hands and it is about how we perform in our games.
“Having to wait 10 days or whatever to play this game is not the end of the world and for us, we are as ready now as we were 10 days ago and we look forward to tomorrow night.”
