Stephen Robinson admits St Mirren are fighting a losing battle in trying to persuade Toyosi Olusanya and Richard Taylor to sign new deals.

Both men are out of contract next summer and striker Olusanya was offered a deal in October which would make him one of the highest-paid players in the club’s history.

He and defender Taylor have since been offered improved terms, but no deal has been reached.

“No, there’s been no progress on that yet,” manager Robinson said.

“We have made further offers to both players, but it seems that at present we are unlikely to be able to reach an agreement, which we respect.

“We know that both boys will give absolutely everything. We will not give up. We are still very far ahead.

“We will see where we are at the end of January, if we can go further, but they are very good deals for the football club, so I’m not sure we can do it.

Robinson claims the club have “drawn the line” in a turbulent period in which Kevin van Veen, Shaun Rooney and Jaden Brown have all had their contracts terminated following separate criminal proceedings.

“It was a situation that no one wanted to find themselves in and it was a difficult time,” he added.

“We were a small team and then we were reduced by three more players, first-team players, not fringe boys. It’s difficult to deal with, but the team has adapted to that. “

New left-back Declan John could make his debut against Aberdeen on Saturday and Robinson is eyeing further reinforcements in January.

“We have people in mind, people we’ve talked to,” he said. “Obviously we’re trying to rebuild this team after losing three players.”