Jake Carroll training with St Mirren as Stephen Robinson discusses potential deal for recovering defender

The former Motherwell full-back is working hard after suffering a serious knee injury last season.

Bookmark
Share

09:38, 17 NOV 2023

Jake Carroll has been training at Ralston with the Saints (Image: SNS Group)

Saints boss Stephen Robinson has been happy to lend a helping hand to Jake Carroll as the defender battles back to full fitness.

The experienced 32-year-old full-back has been training at Ralston as he continues to recover from a serious knee injury that saw him miss the vast majority of last season’s campaign with Motherwell.

After being released by the Fir Park club in June, Robinson –who brought Carroll to Scotland from Cambridge United back in 2019 – kept a close eye on the Irishman’s movements and offered him the chance to finish his rehab at Ralston in recent weeks.

And while the St Mirren manager refused to rule out signing Carroll once he’s match sharp, he admitted the Paisley club are in no position to make a swoop just yet.

Robinson told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “Jake is a boy I’ve worked with before. I like to try and look after all my players I’ve worked with.

“He wasn’t offered a contract at the end of the season as he wasn’t fully recovered.

“We’ve helped rehab him, Gerry Docherty [St Mirren’s head of physiotherapy] has been brilliant with him and we’re getting him to a point where he can go and play football.

“We are not in a position to do anything with Jake ourselves at this moment. He knew that and knows that.

“He’s someone I’ve a lot of time for, a great boy and someone who is getting to full fitness now which is great.

“We are just trying to help him along the way. You never know, things change but at this moment it’s not something we’re looking to do because we don’t have the funds for that.

“I’m just trying to help out a player who was good for me.”

While St Mirren aren’t able to fund an immediate move, the landscape may well shift in the January transfer window.

Even if he doesn’t eventually sign for Saints, Robinson is adamant Carroll has already made himself useful in Paisley after helping to make up the numbers in training sessions at Ralston.

Robinson added: “Could things change in January? That will be up to Jake.

“Ultimately right now it’s making sure he’s ready to play, as he had a really bad injury.

“We’ve given him an environment to train and he’s been good for us in training games as well.

“So it’s just a case of when Jake feels he’s ready to go and play full-time football again, seven days a week.

“We manage him a bit here as well. He’s starting to look a lot better, brighter and getting fitter and stronger every day by using our facilities.”

READ MORE: