ST MIRREN midfielder Stephen McGinn says it is hard to believe how far the club has fallen since he left the club in 2010.

The 28-year-old left the Buddies in 2010 for Watford after coming through the youth set up at the Paisley club. He went on to have spells at Sheffield United, Dundee and Wycombe but returned to the Saints last week signing an 18-month contract.

Much has changed at St Mirren Park in the seven years McGinn has been gone, the club he left was in the top six of the SPL and had just qualified for the League Cup semi-final. Six managers have departed since then and McGinn and his teammates now face an uphill struggle to prevent a second relegation in three seasons.

However McGinn believes former St Mirren teammate and his new manager Jack Ross has what it takes to lift the club from its slump.

He said: “I left seven years ago this window and the club was in the top six of the SPL and had just qualified for the semi-final of the League Cup.

“It’s obviously a different place, but the foundations are in place. The manager I believe will be a very good manager and I wouldn’t have come back for anyone else. We’ve got everything in place to be a Premier League club. It’s in a dire position at the minute, we need to do everything we can to stay in this league first and foremost.

“I played with the manager when I was younger, he is someone I trust. I know the club well, it’s my local team and to keep them up would be a massive achievement personally and as a team, it is a big challenge.

“I’ve signed for 18 months, I think there is a clause if we get relegated but that would be a disaster for the club anyway, it’s not something I’ve spoken about.”

McGinn made his second Saints debut as a second-half substitute in the Buddies’ 2-1 home defeat to Falkirk on Saturday.

The midfielder admitted time was running out for St Mirren to claw themselves clear of danger, Jack Ross’ side are seven points adrift at the bottom and 11 from safety ahead of Saturday's trip to Dumbarton.

He added: “Coming here there was 14 cup finals left and we’ve lost the first one. I knew it was going to be tough, the team is bottom for a reason. But we don’t have long left, we need to start winning football games and next week (against Dumbarton) is absolutely massive for us.”

“We are just not used to winning football games which is a problem, we need to change that as soon as we can.

“What I’ve seen in training and in the games, we have got enough to stay up but we’re running out of time.”