Stephen Robinson hopes to make St Mirren fans believe again this season as he prepares for the cinch Premiership opener against Hibernian at Easter Road on Sunday.

Last season the Northern Irishman guided the Buddies to a top-six finish for the first time since 1985.

Robinson admits that he has to temper optimism with realism but is relishing another challenge in the league, after qualifying through the group stages of the ViaPlay Cup.

“For fans, everybody is excited for the season, everyone can dream and it is our goal to make them believe that we can achieve,” said Robinson.

“We did that last year. Can we do the same again and maybe even take it a little bit further?

“That has to be the aim and certainly we have the talent within the squad to do that.

“Obviously the ViaPlay Cup has already started and we set out to get to the next stages and we did that but obviously we feel that this is the real one, Hibs at Easter Road, a big crowd and we are really looking forward to it.

“We are really well prepared and look forward to the season getting under way.”

Robinson revealed defender Charles Dunne, initially thought to be missing the start of the league season with a calf injury, will train on Saturday and be assessed.

He said: “Charles Dunne will train on Saturday so he may be able to be involved in the game.

“Without putting too much pressure on him he has stepped up his rehab a lot quicker so credit to Gerry Docherty, the physio.

“We will see how he reacts at training and see about his availability.”

Robinson revealed that new signings Stav Nahmani and James Bolton are doubtful due to knocks.

Asked about adding further to his squad, he said: “Probably not before Sunday. In an ideal world we would like to strengthen in two areas of the pitch.

“Things don’t always go to plan. We had a verbal agreement with a player but he has done that well with his parent club that it is looking unlikely now. These things happen in football and you move on to the next one.

“We are looking to add to the squad, that is something that will be ongoing over the next couple of weeks.”

St Mirren’s Premiership rivals Dundee announced on Wednesday that they had paid an undisclosed fee to land 35-year-old Northern Ireland goalkeeper Trevor Carson from the Buddies, for whom he made 40 appearances last term.

Robinson said: “There is no problem between me and Trevor. Trevor made it clear that he wanted to leave the club. We wish him nothing but good luck.

“I believe we have a very good goalkeeper in Zach Hemming. He conceded one goal in the ViaPlay Cup and he is going to be a big asset to this football club.”

Stephen Robinson has promised St Mirren will have a go against Celtic on Saturday despite several heavy defeats against the Hoops this season.

The Buddies beat the cinch Premiership champions 2-0 at home in September but have lost 4-0 and 5-1 – the latter in the Scottish Cup – in Glasgow and 5-1 in Paisley, with the Saints reduced to 10 men in the last two meetings.

St Mirren, who secured a top-six spot for the first time in the current league format, were devastated to drop two points last week when Lawrence Shankland scored a stoppage-time penalty to complete Hearts’ comeback in a 2-2 draw and leave the Saints in sixth place, three points behind Hibernian and four behind the Jambos.

However, Robinson will stress positivity to his players against Celtic as they continue to battle for a European place.

“It was a huge blow for us last weekend but we felt sorry for ourselves for 48 hours, we came back in on Monday morning and it was back to work,” said the St Mirren boss, who revealed Alex Greive and Ryan Flynn are likely to miss the last three fixtures with injuries.

“You can’t change that, these things happen in football.

“I thought we deserved to win the game, we had enough chances. We were very good against a very good Hearts side, let’s make no mistake, and we made them look very average.

“There is a lot of positives but what stays in your mind is the last 20 seconds.

“But now we have to do it the hard way. We need to get points in the next two games and try to take it down to the last game against Rangers, that we still have a chance.

“We will go with a real positive attitude. We  went down to 10 men in two games against Celtic. It would be nice to finish with 11 and have a real go.

“It is another huge test but we go there to try and get a result.

“I am not going to sit back and get beat 1-0. If we go and have a right go at it and get beat 3-0 or 4-0 then so be it. We are going with positivity.”

Robinson, however, was dealt a double blow with the loss of striker Greive and midfielder Flynn.

The Northern Irishman said: “Alex Greive won’t be available – Curtis Main is our only fit senior striker – and neither will Ryan Flynn, both ankle ligament injuries.

“Both will be a struggle to play any more football this season.

“It is not major injuries but we are probably looking two to three weeks for both of them.

“It’s a blow because Tony (Watt) has already gone back to (parent club) Dundee United injured and Jonah (Ayunga) is injured so we are quite short up front. But we have two younger players, Lewis Jamieson and Kieran Offord, who will come into contention.”

Stephen Robinson highlighted the virtues of Ryan Flynn after the midfielder triggered an extension clause in his contract which sees him remain at St Mirren next season.

The 34-year-old is the Paisley side’s longest-serving first-team player having joined the club in January 2018 when the Buddies were on their way to winning promotion to the cinch Premiership.

Flynn has made 139 appearances for St Mirren – 23 this season – and has taken his first steps into coaching after undertaking his UEFA B Licence.

He joins the likes of Greg Kiltie, Marcus Fraser, Mark O’Hara, Trevor Carson and Richard Taylor in extending their contracts in recent months and St Mirren manager Robinson is delighted.

He told the club’s official website: “Ryan brings vast experience and quality to the club.

“He’s shown he can still go into the team and do well in numerous positions.

“As a squad player, he’s fantastic, and as an experienced professional, he’s exactly what we need at the football club.

“He’ll get involved in a little bit of the coaching in the first team as well and I want him to be a part of what we are doing.

“It’s vital to have experienced players. They dictate the tempo of training, the gym work and the attitude around the place.

“The older boys in the squad are the ones who do a bit for me in terms of helping manage the players and it’s important he stayed given his quality and what he offers on the pitch as well.”