New St Mirren captain Marcus Fraser sets standards – Craig McLeish

Fraser came through Celtic’s youth system before a five-year spell at Ross County, then joined St Mirren in 2020.

The defender scored the crucial goal to preserve the Buddies’ Scottish Premiership status in last season’s play-off final win against Partick Thistle and is “buzzing” to take on the job of skipper.

“I had a chat during the week with the manager and the coaching staff and they asked me if I’d like to take the role on – and of course, I jumped at the chance,” said Fraser.

“I thanked them and I appreciate it. Since they’ve been in from the end of the season to now, they’ve really backed me and shown faith in me, so I’m just happy and hopefully I can reward them with performances on the pitch and gelling all the new guys together as well.

“Since the start of pre-season the manager’s asked me a few questions here and there about different things to ask my opinion about stuff. That’s been good from the players’ point of view and it’s good to get that connection with the manager and coaching staff early.”

And McLeish acknowledged O’Hara’s contribution.

“He was such a big part in me sitting in this seat right now, so from a personal point of view it was a tough one,” said McLeish of O’Hara’s departure.

“I’ve got a really good relationship with Mark and he was a big player for us. He felt that it was probably time for a fresh start and I totally understand that. We thank him for his contribution here and wish him all the best.”