Jack Ross believes that his players will have an added belief going into tomorrow's match against Raith Rovers at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
The Buddies recorded their first league win of the season on Tuesday night as they beat Queen of the South 3-2 at Palmerston Park and in the process shook of the unwanted tag of being the only senior team in British football not to win a game this season.
However, while Jack admits the players will be buoyed by the result and take a renewed optimism into the game against The Rovers, he feels that atmosphere around training has been good for the last couple of weeks anyway.
Speaking to stmirren.com, the manager said: "I know I have repeated myself but the mood around the place has been good because we know we've been playing well.
But, in saying that, we know we got our rewards from it the other night and undoubtedly the players have come back in with that increased belief. I think they're going to walk into Saturday's game with that extra spring in their step knowing that something that has been hanging over them is away now.
"There is an increased optimism about them which is good."
The manager believes that the team have conquered a psychological hurdle as they got the monkey off their back having picked up that first league win of the season. He does, however, stress that the players should still try to channel a feeling of positive pressure heading into matches.
I've said previously that they should feel pressure going into every game - the pressure you put on yourself to do well. You've got to have that because that's what drives you.
"But everybody knows because what happens as every week passes much is made of it in the build up to games by external people and you can't control that and it's difficult to avoid that.
"The fact that that is done now is good because it gives us the chance to get momentum and gives us the opportunity to put things right here with a league victory at home. If we can do that on Saturday and have the two in a week then it's a great platform for us to push on."
Saints impressed in the win on Tuesday night and even evoked 'olé' chants from the away supporters due to some of their passing movement. Jack admitted that he's keen for his players to play good football and believes it's a style suited to the team due to some of the ability of players in the squad.
I think the way we want to play suits that," he said. "I think we've got the players to do that and they are growing in confidence. We've been working with them for two months now and sometimes things do take time to bed in.
"Some of the stuff they played the other night was terrific and what we've got, fortunately, at home is a surface that assists that. It's encouraging them to keep doing it and I think we will keep doing it because they understand now that they've got the ability and the capability to do it which maybe had gone from them a little bit."
Raith Rovers come to Paisley tomorrow knowing a win could potentially put them back in the play-off positions. Having already faced them while Alloa manager, Jack knows that they will be difficult opponents but wants his players to have belief that they can win the game.
They've had a break from their last match which sometimes is a good thing or a bad thing. It allows them to recharge and come into the game with a freshness.
"I've already played against them this season when I took an Alloa team in the Betfred Cup so I'm familiar with a lot of their players and our preparation side of things is done thoroughly.
"They are a team that has had a good start to the season, find themselves in the top half, but we should believe that we can go into every game in this league that we can win it."
