With St Mirren taking on Dunfermline at East End Park on Saturday stmirren.com delved into the archives to find an interview with ex-Saints midfielder and current Pars manager, Allan Johnston after he joined the Buddies in 2009.
22 September 2009
Midfielder Allan Johnston had been training with St Mirren over the last few weeks but today the 35-year-old put pen to paper on a deal until the end of the season.
Having left Kilmarnock at the end of last season, Allan was training with Saints as he was getting himself back to full-fitness for the next season but what he saw of St Mirren over that time made an impression on him, making the decision to sign-up with the Buddies an easy one.
It's a great set-up here at St Mirren, it's a club going places and I'm delighted to be here," he said.
"Firstly, I want to try and get into the team and hopefully I can also help younger players along too. St Mirren are a good team, we just need to find a wee bit more end product really but we definitely have the players with the right quality.
"We maybe need a bit more work on finishing it all off with a few more goals."
Allan has an impressive pedigree in football having played at the top end of the game in Scotland with Hearts and Rangers, in England with Sunderland and Middlesbrough and in France with Rennes. Along the way he has also picked up 18 caps for Scotland. But the midfielder doesn't see the move to St Mirren as a step down.
No, I don't think that at all," Allan said. "Make no mistake, St Mirren is a massive club as shown by their set-up; having their own training ground and a beautiful new stadium. This is a club that is definitely going places so I think I have made a good move coming here.
"On a personal level I want to do well here at St Mirren," he continued. "I'm always ambitious to and want to win every game I play in so my first job is to get myself into the team and be part of that.
"I've not lost the hunger and I'm desperate to do well here so the fans can be assured that I'll be giving my best."
