St Mirren captain Stephen McGinn believes they can go into the new season with their momentum intact after getting back to winning ways in style.

Alan Stubbs endured a slow start as Buddies manager after replacing Jack Ross. Saints drew three games in the Betfred Cup including against Spartans and Queen's Park, and lost 6-0 in a friendly against Ross' new team, Sunderland.

But the Ladbrokes Championship title winners reversed that result against Dumbarton on Saturday to reach the second round and they now go into their Premiership return against Dundee in confident mood.

"Saturday was telling," McGinn said. "We hadn't been playing well in the cup or the friendly the week before, but we do have an expectation: we feel that we win games at our own stadium.

"Once we got the early goal on Saturday it just felt natural again - that's what we do, be clinical and put these teams away.

"When you are used to winning games for 18 months, to then go and draw against a non-league team and a team a couple of divisions below, and lose a friendly heavily in between, all of a sudden there's a full-blown crisis on your hands.

"But that comes with the success we have had, fans expect to win every game, which I think is a good thing. I'd never stop them expecting or dreaming because it drives us on. It was a relief to show everyone we can still play like that and score goals."

McGinn does feel his team will need to temper their attacking instincts at times however.

"The manager has said that, in this league we are not going to be able to score every time we have got the ball," the midfielder said.

"That was partly the way we played last year, almost like a basketball game at times because if the game ever got open we fancied ourselves against anyone.

"We know if we play that kind of style, teams in this league could hurt us and seriously hurt us. So we will probably have to be more patient, keep the ball a bit longer and limit the mistakes."