Jim Goodwin says St Mirren are targeting a seventh-placed finish to close out the season strongly after beating Ross County 3-1.

The Buddies just missed out on the top six in their final match before the split, and had threatened to fall further down the table after losing to Motherwell.

But goals from Lee Erwin, Ilkay Durmus and Jamie McGrath secured a come-from-behind victory away from home against relegation-threatened County to restore their place at the head of the bottom half.

And Goodwin would love to consolidate that position in their final three league matches.

“After missing out on the top six, we reassessed the situation and we set new targets,” Goodwin said.

“Seventh is where we want to go, but it will be difficult because we’ve got good teams like Dundee United and Motherwell in there competing with us.

“That’s where we want to be, and we’ve never finished in seventh since the Premiership was formed so it would be a nice way to cap off the season.

“If you’d offered me a point before tonight, considering the injury list we had, I might have taken it, but the boys were brilliant.”

Staggies manager John Hughes, on the other hand, saw his side slip into the relegation play-off place after Kilmarnock’s 3–0 win over Dundee United.

The frustration for him was the simplicity of the goals his team conceded – and the fact that the frailties at the back seemed to be nothing new.

“In the second half, it’s the same old story – we can’t keep that back door shut,” he bemoaned.

“For me, it’s not great goals, they are self-inflicted. Our first line of defence should be from the front. The fundamental stuff we have to be better at, but we’ve been saying that all season.

“You can coach it all you like, they need to do it on the pitch.”