St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin is desperate to tie down Jak Alnwick on a new contract after revealing the goalkeeper is stalling on signing fresh terms.
Alnwick was in outstanding form on Saturday as he produced a series of fine saves either side of Connor Ronan scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win away to Hibernian.
The result leaves the Buddies just one point adrift of the Premiership top six.
Alnwick joined Saints on a two-year deal in the summer of 2020 after a spell at Rangers that included loan stints at Scunthorpe and Blackpool and Goodwin is keen to keep the 28-year-old.
Goodwin said: “There’s been an offer on the table for Jak for the last three months. We’re trying to force him into signing it, to tie him down.
“He’s a good player, a great signing for us. We’ve put a very good offer on the table for him, one that rewards him for the performances he’s put in.
“Like any free agent out there they are entitled to scour the market and see what options might become available.
“But he knows what we think of him here. We’ve showed a lot of faith and belief in him and hopefully he will reward us by signing that deal.
“They came flying out the traps in the second 45. So we had to be at our best defensively to get the result.
“Jak deserves a lot of credit. If he doesn’t make those saves while they’re in the ascendancy that game could’ve gotten away from us. He’s done his job brilliantly and deserves a big pat on the back.”
St Mirren had to weather a storm at the start of the second half before Ronan pounced on a mistake from Jake Doyle-Hayes to lash the ball past goalkeeper Kevin Dabrowski from 18 yards.
Hibs are now without a league win in five outings and face a daunting trip to Rangers on Wednesday.
However, manager Shaun Maloney insists his team can take confidence from the way they played against Celtic in a recent 2-0 loss in Glasgow.
He said: “When we get chances, however many we create at Rangers, we have to be clinical.
“Against Celtic I was really pleased. We got beat 2-0 but the performance was a good level.
“We didn’t create enough today, though, so now the challenge is to try to dominate like we did at Celtic Park and create chances and take them.”
