BY KYLE GUNN

St Mirren boss Oran Kearney has backed goalkeeper Václav Hladky to play his part tomorrow against Motherwell despite the Czech stopper mourning the death of his best friend and fellow footballer, Josef Sural.

The Saints keeper was left devastated after his close friend Sural, the best man at his wedding, was killed in a minibus crash as he and his Alanyaspor teammates returned from a match against Kayserispor last Sunday. 

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Kearney revealed that Hladky will be in between the sticks at Fir Park tomorrow afternoon before returning home for the 28-year-old's funeral.

”It shook him and it has been a tough few days for him," he said. "Everybody at the club has been brilliant and rallied round him. In a scenario like this it is very much player driven rather than manager driven. For me the conversations I’ve had are whet he feels is best.

“Vaclav is adamant and he has been from day one he wants to play on Saturday. He will then head back to the Czech Republic on Sunday morning. I will give him as much time as he needs next week. If he wanted to go now then he would go now.”

Elsewhere, the battle to avoid relegation is heating up with Dundee and Hamilton meeting at Dens Park tomorrow with anything other than a victory confining Jim McIntyre side's to relegation to the Championship. 

However, the Buddies boss insists his side cannot have one eye on events elsewhere and must take care of their own business first and foremost. 

The Northern Irishman continued: “I don’t have any thoughts on that game. Our focus is to get three points. When we come in after the game we will check the score but they key thing for us its to take care of our business. Of all the different permutations that could happen at Dens Park, the key thing is for us to get three points.

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“Last Saturday we were not really aware what was happening elsewhere apart from when the crowd had three really loud roars in a row. You get the sense something is happening. I was unaware of the scoring although I did have an inkling something was going on. Players have enough to comprehend on a Saturday looking after themselves.”