Jack Ross says it would be a "brilliant reward" for everyone involved with the club if St Mirren can avoid relegation to League One.
The Buddies come into tomorrow's all important clash with Dumbarton in fine form having won five of the last seven league matches and sitting just one point behind Ayr United with a game in hand.
It's a far cry from the last time the side faced the Sons, when a 2-2 draw at the Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium in February saw Saints seven points adrift.
And while he's first to admit that there is still a lot of work to be done before St Mirren are safe, he claims his faith in the side has never wavered and he can feel the belief from the players that they can stay up.
The belief for me has never changed," he said. "But now what I have got is a group of players who believe it. You can feel it, it's tangible within the dressing room. I feel as if we will continue to win games as long as we keep playing the same way and the only way we will keep playing the same way is if we continue to work as hard.
"The players have had to work incredibly hard to be alive and kicking at this stage of the season and the one thing that we haven't done - not because of our form and results, but because of the way other teams have performed - is that we've not managed to get off that bottom spot.
"I would happily take getting off the last two spots in the 90th minute of the last game of the season, but I feel as if we are good enough to do it prior to. If we do it I think it would be a brilliant reward for everybody at the club."
The gaffer was speaking to stmirren.com after being awarded the Ladbrokes Championship Manager of the Month for March. However, he was keen to stress that it was an award not just for himself, but for the players, his staff and the supporters who he believes were integral to him picking up the accolade.
He said: "You still get satisfaction from any personal achievements in football, whether that is a man of the match award or player of the year award or whatever it might be. So it's nice but it's very much a reflection upon what the players have done on the pitch and what my staff do on a daily basis to help me. James and Allan in particular providing me with a lot of support with training and on a match day.
"They [the supporters] have played an equal part in it. I said a few months ago about trying to rebuild that connection and once you do that everybody should feel a part of any success you have or any plaudits you receive. When people have been complimentary of us recently as a team, that should be reflective of the whole club.
"I'd like to very much thank them for their support because they play a huge part, home and away, in terms of how the players have played.
"I feel as if we have made progress," he continued. "I feel as if we have made steps forward. We have 100 steps still to take forward in terms of where I want to take the club and some of them are very much small ones we need to take this season. But I think anybody that comes to our ground at the moment can feel it. Letters I've received and emails and so on from fans tell me that they are very much enjoying their football and the players are enjoying playing for them.
"It wasn't that long ago that it was a difficult environment to play here. I'm not criticising the supporters for that, we weren't producing good enough performances on the park. But the whole mix and relationship was wrong so we have to continue to build that, continue to improve that, continue to strengthen it because if you do it's a great mix and it's powerful.
"I think it was low for a variety of reasons and it's dangerous when it gets to that point because it can almost bottom out and I think we weren't far away from that. We've had to kind of claw our way back. It's been hard work and I will only be satisfied when we do this first part of this job which is maintaining our place in the league. Then the hard work begins again because that that's the first stage for us, if you like, and then it becomes about building.
"The priority is still very much staying in the league this season and we've still got a lot of hard work to ensure it."
Saints have failed to defeat Dumbarton this season and the manager expects the Sons to be tricky opponents once again. Stephen Aitken's side make the short journey across the Erskine Bridge as the highest away scorers in the league and Ross admits the team have to be wary of that threat.
I think it is a difficult match for a number of reasons. Their recent form is good, some of the results they have produced over the course of the season is excellent. They have some really good players in the final third. Their wide players are comfortable coming into narrow areas so defensively we are going to have to be strong.
"I expect it to be a hugely difficult and challenging game, but with our recent form at home we have to go in with that belief that we can win it."
