Steven Thomson admits simply surviving another season in the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League is no longer good enough for St Mirren.

The Buddies have managed to retain their place among Scottish football's elite for the last three campaigns but with plenty of nailbiting moments along the way.

A 10th-place finish sandwiched between two second-bottom placings have been enough to keep Saints in the top-flight since triumphing in the First Division back in 2006.

But, as far as Thomson is concerned, now is the time to be a little more ambitious in terms of their targets.

Victory over Motherwell on Saturday would propel Gus MacPherson's men into the top half of the table and the midfielder believes ending the season there is not beyond the realms of possibility.

"Once you get into the SPL, you want survival for the first couple of seasons," said Thomson.

"Then you've got to set yourself goals. I would imagine now the club are aiming to get to the top six.

"It's not unrealistic. But there are probably another five or six teams thinking the same thing.

"We've only played eight games and we shouldn't get too carried away but come the end of January we will know exactly where we should be pushing for.

"We've had back-to-back wins and it was good to follow up the result against Hearts with another win against Falkirk.

"We will see whether we can kick on from here. We have been playing well so hopefully we can kick up the league and see where it takes us."

For the first time since January, Saints are able to look forward to a game at their new St Mirren Park without the topic of their home hoodoo cropping up.

A wait of more than eight months for their first SPL win at the stadium finally came to an end with a 2-1 victory over Hearts earlier this month, with Thomson on the scoresheet for the Buddies.

He said: "It was great to get the win and get the monkey off our back.

"The media were going on about it and, eventually, I think it was playing on the players' minds.

"It was good to get it out of the way and be able to concentrate on the rest of the season."

Motherwell will arrive in Paisley with no shortage of confidence either after leaving Celtic Park with a point last week and completing an enviable double of holding both halves of the Old Firm to a draw this season.

"It's going to be a tough game," Thomson added.

"I've seen Motherwell play a couple of times and they are a good passing side.

"They are a young side as well, with lots of energy, so it will tough."