Fitzpatrick believes that Robinson’s track record at Fir Park will lead to a bright future for the Saints as he repeated his ambition for the club to become a top-six mainstay.

“I’m a St Mirren fan and to get Stephen in is incredible,” he beamed. “The club and Stephen is a perfect match.

“He has the same vision at St Mirren and the same ambition. He got Motherwell to third in the league and two cups finals against the best team in the country, Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic. He was unlucky not to win one at least.

“He is a fantastic coach. We have a lot of really top-quality young players here. He will play a big part in developing them when you look at who he developed at Motherwell.

“Stephen wants in the top six and winning trophies and that’s what this club is about. Why shouldn’t we? We are a massive club and there is more potential to achieve here.

“St Mirren are as big as any club in the top six outwith Celtic and Rangers. Bringing in Stephen just shows the intent this club has got.”

Robinson spent nearly four years in the top job at Motherwell before resigning in December 2020 and the 47-year-old maintains a close relationship with chief executive Alan Burrows.

Before agreeing to join St Mirren, he performed his ‘due diligence’ by asking his former employer what he thought of the Paisley club – and received a glowing recommendation from Burrows.

“Alan is someone I trust very much,” he said. “I had a brilliant relationship with him when I was at Motherwell.

“This was not an easy decision. I had good people at Morecambe and the town was very good to me. It wasn’t something I wanted to do lightly.

“But I spoke to Alan and he’s a big Scottish football fan and he sung the praises of St Mirren and the people at St Mirren. You try and do your due diligence before you jump into big decisions and Alan was one of many people I spoke to when doing my background checks on people and the club.

“It’s very important you are comfortable with who you are working with and Alan confirmed what I already thought.”