Gus MacPherson considers the death knell for Scottish football is a long way off.

St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson says that a lot of the unjust criticism has been levelled at Scottish football recently and points to this weekend's opponents Motherwell as to why the game up here is not as bad as it is painted. The standard of the game north of the border has come under scrutiny once again after the Old Firm both reiterated their desire to move to establish themselves in English football. The European results delivered by Scottish clubs this season have not really help the game's cause either. But, as far as MacPherson is concerned, the Scottish game does have its good points, highlighting the number of talented youngsters who are beginning to make the breakthrough. And he believes you do not have to look any further than Motherwell - who have drawn with both halves of the Old Firm this season - to see that homegrown talent can make a difference.

MacPherson said: "Motherwell have had a lot of plaudits and the younger players, especially, have had a lot of attention and quite rightly so. At the moment, Scottish football is getting criticised by all quarters and we sometimes forget there are some really talented youngsters making their way in the game. Motherwell have one or two of them and Ross Forbes has had a fantastic start to the season. We've got to be as positive as we can. It is a difficult time for clubs financially but the young players give everybody a bit of hope that the talent is still there within the game."

It is not just players who have impressed MacPherson, he has also been impressed by Well boss Jim Gannon, who took over the Fir Park hotseat from Mark McGhee in the summer. MacPherson: "They were in early for pre-season because of the European ties and he has had the time to put his mark on the team. It's all about getting results and they've done that. They have had two fantastic draws against the Old Firm and they won up at Tannadice, which is never easy to do. They've had good results but I think everyone is also commenting on the way they have been playing."

Saints have started to improve in recent weeks killing off their home win hoodoo against Hearts before seeing Falkirk off with a 3-1 win last week. A win over over Motherwell on Saturday would take the Paisley club into the top half of the table but MacPherson insisted: "The pressure is still there. The most important thing now is consistency. We have to make demands of the players. We have tried to lift the tempo and intensity of the training over the last few weeks. You get the rewards if you work hard. The confidence is there and we have actually been happy with the way the season has started and the way we have played. The most important thing is winning games and if you can get three points on the board consistently you can see the difference that makes."

The prospect of a top six finish is still a target for the Saints boss but he knows it is far from easy. The Saints boss said: "I said before a ball was kicked that we had to improve on last season. We were pretty happy with the form until the split and then we let ourselves down badly. We got involved in a relegation fight which nobody at the club enjoyed. So we have to improve on that. We've not set any targets but we certainly believe that if we can get our strongest team on the park more often than not, we can do a lot better than last year."

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