It's been a big season already for centre-half Jack Baird.
The young defender is rapidly approaching the 100 appearance mark after clocking his 92nd in the 2-1 win over Brechin.
He's likely to take another step closer to his century when Raith Rovers come to Paisley in the IRN-BRU Cup on Saturday.
Long term absentees Harry Davis and Gary MacKenzie remain out while loanee Jamie McCart is cup-tied after featuring for Celtic Colts in the first round.
Lewis Morgan and Liam Smith are both on international duty also giving some other faces the chance to come into the side and impress.
Jack knows the difficulty Saints will face coming up against League One Rovers this weekend, but is excited for the match.
It will be a difficult game as they are top of their league as well," he told stmirren.com.
"But we've got players who will fill in and do well. I'm looking forward to it and obviously we are looking to win the game.
"Cup runs are always good because they keep giving you a number of games. The best bit of being a footballer is playing games so the longer you stay in the cups the better.
"I enjoyed playing in the final last season as it was my first ever final. Hopefully we can do something similar this season.
"It's good to have a break from the league and it's nice to have a cup game thrown in now and then. It's something a wee bit different and the more games the better."
The Saints come into the cup game this weekend on the back of reclaiming top spot in the Ladbrokes Championship in the win over Brechin.
It's a far cry from what Baird has been used to in his years with the Buddies.
But he is relishing the challenge of being at the top.
It's good and it's a different type of pressure from last season," he said.
"Last year we were winning games to try and stay in this league. This season we are winning games to try and stay at the top. It's a big difference but you approach them with the same attitude. All the games are must win because you want to stay where you are.
"Regardless of how other teams are getting on as long as we keep winning we'll stay on top. Last year was difficult where getting three points might not get you up the table. But this season taking three points will get us something.
"We just need to keep winning games and concentrate on ourselves. It's motivating itself to be top of the table because I've never really experienced that in my career. There's a different feeling on a Monday and you come into training knowing you are top of the table."
