By Kyle Gunn

St Mirren defender Mateo Mužek admits today’s game against Livingston is a must win encounter.

The Buddies host Gary Holt’s side knowing that a victory will close the gap on second bottom Dundee to just one point.

And the left back says the squad have been tight-knit since the January transfer window slammed shut. 

He said: “We have picked up points against teams that want to play in Europe – and we have done so by creating more chances than them. When I came here there was a lot of new players coming in, myself, Vaclav Hladky, Mihai Popescu, a lot of guys no one knew. But now, we speak a lot more and we are a very good group.

“These are the games that we need to win. Against the teams at the top, you get what you get. But against the teams near the bottom you have to win. We need to beat Dundee and Hamilton because these are six-point games.”

The 23-year-old who joined the club from Shakhter Karagandy insists he would like to extend his stay in Paisley beyond the end of the season. 

He continued: “It is a good pressure to have because you want to prove yourself. If you do well then you could stay here or other clubs might be watching. We will see what the summer brings. I would love to stay here. In Croatia, they follow football but they do not go to games the same. At Hearts there were 18,000 people there, that is completely different to what I had in Croatia.”