'Delighted my vision aligned with club' - McLeish confirmed as Saints manager

Craig McLeish has pledged to give St Mirren's young players more first-team opportunities after being confirmed as the club's permanent manager.

The former academy head and player pathway manager has signed a three-year contract and is assisted by Stuart Taylor, while head of goalkeeping Jamie Langfield takes on the added responsibility of set-piece coach.

McLeish handed debuts to four academy players - Grant Tamosevicius, Caiden McMillan, Thomas Falconer and Luke Douglas - during his 12-game stint as interim boss last season in which he kept the club in the top flight via the play-offs.

"I want to thank Keith [Lasley] and the board for giving me this opportunity and I'm ready to grasp it," said McLeish.

"I'm delighted that my vision aligned with the club's, and they feel I'm the best person to take us forward.

"It feels like maybe the end of a cycle with where we were at. We've achieved a lot over this last period, and we have to now look at what we do and how we operate as a club.

"A lot of that will be about developing our own young players and giving them more opportunities. I think with my knowledge of the players coming through and how much I trust them, I don't think there would be a better person to go down that route as well.

"I've been at this club now for eight years and they're [the fans] such a massive part of what we do and we have to continue feeding off them.

"We have to put a product on the pitch that they can be proud of and that's a big part of me looking forward to this the support we get from them and developing good relationships with the fans."