Stephen Robinson reckons recruiting his mother-in-law can help St Mirren overcome their mental block and finally show Rangers who’s the daddy.

The Buddies boss has worked wonders in Paisley since taking over two years ago. Among his impressive achievements are back-to-back top-six finishes, with a European slot now his side’s next priority as they head into the post-split fixtures. But the Northern Irishman is also desperate to score a “marquee” win over Philippe Clement’s Gers. While Saints became the first team to beat Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic last term, Robbo is still waiting to see his men topple the Hoops’ Ibrox rivals after eight unsuccessful attempts.

They’ve come close on a couple of occasions but he admits a lack of mental steel cost them in vital moments. However, Robinson hopes Sunday’s SMISA Stadium showdown will provide a breakthrough after calling in his partner’s mum Kirsteen Templeton to work on his squad’s ability to handle pressure. He said: “We’ve played well in stages against Rangers and Celtic but haven’t been able to maintain it. I think we're improving at that.

“Obviously we have a lot of respect but that's the one thing that we haven't really achieved - a marquee result. We'll be setting out to achieve that hopefully. Within our dressing room, we believe we can get a result. We believe we've got the talent to do it. But we need to do that for 96 minutes.

“We've done it for 70 minutes, we've done it for 45, and in key moments we've made poor decisions. We have to get better at our decision making in periods of games against the bigger teams. I do think it's mental. Concentration wise, when you're playing against top quality players who wear you down, you only need one moment where you switch off.

“It's about training your mind, not to get casual with that. We’ve used people with individuals, not as a team. You're dealing with young men that have lives outside football, that have problems outside football so we've used that at times.

“It's actually my partner's mum that we've used. She's been fantastic for us, I have to give her a very special mention because two or three of the boys have seen her and benefited massively.”

Robbo is delighted to see his squad respond positively to those psychology sessions - but admits it would never have happened in his day. “It was unheard of when I played,” he confessed. “Then, you’d be looked upon as a weak person if you needed outside help.

“Thankfully society's moved on from that as everybody needs help. The mental side of football is massive. Everyone's got ability, everyone's got good athletic qualities but mentally you have to be so strong to deal with criticism.”

Times have changed and so have management methods. Robinson admits he has to take a softer approach than in the past - but still insists upon giving his men the hard truth.

He said: “If I managed the way I was managed I’d probably be in jail now! Society's changed. You used to get told exactly what people thought of you. Now you have to manage it a lot differently.

“You're dealing with a different generation, a generation that wants answers to why they're doing well, why they're not doing well and how they can improve. You have to do it with a more softly, softly approach. But I'm the only person that tells them the truth.

"Their agents, mums and dads, girlfriends, boyfriends, whoever it may be, never tell them the truth. Ultimately, myself and my coaching staff are the ones who tell them the truth. We do that to improve them, but we do it in the right manner. We're all here at this football club to improve as individuals and improve collectively.”