Danny Lennon is gunning for St Mirren's best finish in Scotland's top flight since 1989.
The Buddies currently sit eighth on the Scottish Premiership table - second in the relegation group playoffs - ahead of Friday night's meeting with third-bottom Partick Thistle.
St Mirren took out last season's League Cup but Lennon is hoping to better that feat by keeping the club in the top division of Scottish football for a ninth straight season.
The Paisley outfit have won two matches in a row to sit level on points with Hibernian but the relegation race is so tight that they can either finish as high as seventh or fall to second bottom which would see them enter a relegation playoff which Lennon is eager to avoid.
"For this club, in terms of where it has been in the last 10 years, to keep your Premiership status would be a fantastic achievement," Lennon told the Daily Record.
"What's bringing the excitement is the new play-off. It has been a roller coaster season but, bizarrely enough, thanks to our two recent wins, if we keep that run of form going we could have our highest finish since 1989 - seventh place.
"But we can't just talk about it. We need to continue the actions of the last couple of weeks and if we do that then we'll give ourselves a good opportunity of finishing in that seventh position.
"It's a sprint finish. Five teams are trying to get over that line and we've done well in the first two parts of that race. Now we must continue using those key strengths in order to get ahead of the other runners.
"I'm a play-off fan - it has brought a lot of excitement. Whoever came up with that idea got it right."
