Sometimes falling short can still take you a long way. In a season of near misses so far for St Mirren, Jim Goodwin and his team's reputation has been enhanced rather than damaged.

Despite having ended a couple of goals shy of the Scottish Premiership's top six, the Paisley club are on track for their highest top-flight finish in decades.

And victory at Kilmarnock on Monday will send the Saints marching on to a second semi-final of the campaign as they look to eclipse their League Cup efforts.

Here's why there are plenty of positives amid the pain...
Best of rest a 32-year high

To gauge the merits of St Mirren's campaign, we have to look at what went before. Upon returning to the top flight in 2018 they finished second bottom, scraping survival with a nerve-ridden shootout win in the play-off final against Dundee United.

In Goodwin's debut term, the Buddies were ninth, two points above the play-off berth, when Covid-19 resulted in an abrupt halt with eight games left. The 1-0 win over Hearts in the final match played before the shutdown proved decisive - had the result been reversed, St Mirren would have been relegated in bottom spot.

So after two brushes with the drop that were too close for comfort, staying in the league was the be all and end all this season, right? Not according to chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick. His bullish pre-season prediction of a top-six finish invited scorn from pundits and heaped pressure on Goodwin and the players.

In the end, they were four minutes from delivering the lofty target in a season spent looking up rather than fretfully peering over their shoulder. Of the memorable moments along the way, a first away win over Celtic in 31 years takes some beating.

The dramatic late stumble at Hamilton Academical in the final pre-split fixture that cost St Mirren a first top-six finish since 1985 will sting for a while. The fact they missed out by a margin of just two goals is an extra slap in the face to go with the gut-punch.

But the pain can't mask the tangible signs of progress. The league campaign is far from a write-off. Indeed, if seventh-place St Mirren hold off Dundee United and Motherwell to stay best of the rest, Goodwin will have steered the club to their highest top-flight finish in 32 years. The final-day visit of United to Paisley looks a humdinger.

While more goals are needed - St Mirren's haul of 33 from 35 league outings is the fourth lowest in the division - they have balanced that shortage with defensive parsimony. With just 40 conceded, the Paisley men have the tightest rearguard outside the top four.
A second crack at silverware

St Mirren's run to the Scottish League Cup semi-final highlighted Goodwin's tactical acumen. But, similar to the Premiership near miss, the prize slipped from their grasp just when it looked like the hard work had been done.

Having dumped out one top-four side with quarter-final victory over Aberdeen, Goodwin's men brought Rangers' unbeaten record to an end.

A semi-final spot was in the bag, with both of the Old Firm eliminated. All St Mirren had to do was get past Livingston. But, in an attritional Hampden contest, they conceded early and couldn't rise to the occasion until a late bombardment failed to bring an equaliser.

The prospect of a first major trophy since the famous 2013 League Cup success had gone. And, as goalkeeper Jak Alnwick admitted in recent days, the regrets lingered.

"It was a difficult one to take. You came out the game saying, 'what if, what if?' Obviously it still hurts but you have to use it to your advantage.

"We have a lot of young boys still learning their trade, hopefully we use it as a learning curve going into the game against Kilmarnock and get ourselves into a final."

The chance to show that lesson has been learned comes on Monday at Rugby Park. Beat a resurgent Kilmarnock and St Mirren will be through to their second semi-final of the season.

It would also be another touchstone of progress for a club that has only gone beyond the Scottish Cup quarter-finals once - 2009 - since lifting the trophy way back in 1987.

Reshaped squad looks the part

Regardless of how the next few weeks pan out, Goodwin's stock has risen. The former skipper return to Paisley after an impressive start in management at Alloa Athletic, getting the part-time club promoted to the Championship in 2018 and keeping them there the following season.

He won't have clocked up two years in the Paisley job until late June, but is currently the third longest-serving manager in the top flight.

The Irishman has brought stability to a club that had churned through nine managers in nine years prior to his arrival.

While Covid has caused chaos across the game - St Mirren had more than their fair share with an outbreak that caused two games to be postponed - Goodwin's men have flourished in adversity.

The manager has put his stamp on the squad with a recruitment drive while keeping faith in homegrown young talent such as Kyle McAllister, Cammy MacPherson, and Ethan Erhahon.

Of the starting XI from the season-ending win over Hearts 13 months ago, only four players remain at the club.

Alnwick has proved an able replacement for the excellent Vaclav Hladky in goals, while the reshaped defence of Joe Shaughnessy, Richard Tait, Conor McCarthy and Marcus Fraser has quickly melded into a formidable unit.

Jake Doyle-Hayes, part of the burgeoning Irish contingent, has added craft to midfield while fellow countryman Jamie McGrath has been the pick of the bunch.

McGrath's impact has been a slow-burner after arriving in January 2020. Having failed to net in his 11 appearances season, and first 12 outings of this campaign, the 24-year-old has bloomed with 14 strikes since, comfortably making him the club's top scorer.

His contribution will be integral to St Mirren's hopes of booking a return to Hampden. Win or lose, though, the future looks bright in Paisley.