St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson has backed Ryan Strain and Keanu Baccus to push for places in Australia’s World Cup squad.

The pair were central to Saints’ 1-0 win over Ross County on Saturday, with Richard Tait scoring the only goal of the game early in the second half.

Neither Australian player has been capped at full international level, but Strain was called up to the squad last year and Baccus played for the Socceroos’ Under-23 team at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

‘‘There’s more still to come from Keanu. He tired in the last 10 minutes but no wonder with the amount of running that he does, even in training,’’ Robinson said.

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— St Mirren FC (@saintmirrenfc) August 14, 2022

‘‘I also thought Ryan Strain was excellent today. So that’s two boys who are going to be right in amongst that Australian set-up for the World Cup, hopefully.’’

St Mirren’s victory gave it its first points of the season to move off the foot of the fledgling table.

Robinson felt the win was important to alleviate any pressure his players had been putting on themselves.

‘‘We’re only three games in, but it was critical for the players’ belief. They read things, so it does mount up a little bit, so for the belief in the camp this was great,’’ he said.

“The planning is going very well” 💪

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-PA