Tesselaar: Well loss hard to watch
St Mirren defender Jeroen Tesselaar has revealed his pain after being forced to sit through the 5-0 thrashing by Motherwell which has all but ended the Buddies' survival hopes.
The Dutch defender was due to line-up at left-back for Gary Teale's men as they took on Well in a make-or-break clash last Tuesday.
But a hip injury sustained was the last thing the Paisley men needed and Tesselaar was forced to watch on from the Fir Park stands as his team-mates collapsed.
His replacement Sean Kelly was given a torrid time by Steelemen winger Lionel Ainsworth as the hosts racked up the devastating scoreline which moved them 10 points clear of the Scottish Premiership basement boys.
With just six games to rein that lead in, Teale later admitted relegation looks "almost inevitable".
For Tesselaar, the pain of his injured hip was nothing compared to the agony of having to witness his side's implosion.
He said: "It was so frustrating having to miss out last week. I was full of adrenalin thinking I was going to play the game. The warm-up started well but the first time I kicked the ball, I felt pain in my hip - that was me done.
"I took a shower and came back out to sit with the guys and it was already 1-0.
"We all knew we had to win this game to have a chance of staying in the league. But now we are looking at a 10-point gap with three games to play. I think everybody has written us off now.
"If we had won, the gap would have been four points and everything would have been possible, Now it's 10 and it will be really difficult to claw back.
"To have to sit and watch that from the side, well it was horrible,
"When you are on the pitch you can do something about it. But we were never in the game and Motherwell were all over us. That is very difficult to watch."
Tesselaar hopes to be fit for Monday's match while fellow defender Marc McAusland has a tight hamstring but should face Ross County.
The Staggies remain embroiled in a relegation battle despite their current red-hot form but that has not disheartened Raffaele De Vita.
After signing for County during the transfer window following a spell at Cheltenham, the Italian midfielder scored on his debut on February 14 when the Dingwall club, then at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership, beat Motherwell 3-2.
It was only the second home win of the season for Jim McIntyre's side to go within three points of the Fir Park side.
Despite a remarkable six wins and a draw since, County have moved up to 10th place but are still only three points above Motherwell who occupy the play-off spot.
Ahead of the trip to bottom side St Mirren on Monday night, De Vita, named SPFL player of the month for March, said: "Yes, if you look back eight weeks ago you would have thought that we would have been safe after seven wins in eight. But look at the teams above us.
"When I signed, the teams above us were miles away from us and it was a three-horse race (to avoid the drop) but now we have managed to turn it into something different.
"Now we have managed to put a little pressure on them and after they thought they could relax they are under pressure to get results. That is good.
"The Motherwell game is probably the one that changed things for everyone because after that we managed to keep the same eleven for pretty much every game and that really helps.
"After the Motherwell win and (3-1 win at) Partick, we realised that we are a good enough team to stay up so we just carried on and as well as working hard you also have to show something on the ball and that is what we have done.
"And once things started to come off we just carried on. Now we are in a position where we are not scared of taking risks and trying things on the pitch which is always good if you want to win games."
St Mirren manager Jim McIntyre has no fresh injury worries for the trip. Rocco Quinn and Richard Brittain are in training following long-term injuries but are not expected to feature. Defender Darren Barr (knee) remains on the sidelines.
Source: PA
