David Barron, the St Mirren youngster, has agreed a new three-and-a-half-year deal with the club.

The 20-year-old full-back broke into the side this season and Gus MacPherson, the manager, believes he can reach the top.

Barron has started St Mirren's last 10 games and has played a key role in their climb away from relegation danger as well as their progression to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.

MacPherson said: "David has agreed in principle to a three-and-a-half-year deal and we're delighted as he's done extremely well for us.

"He came from Partick Thistle's youth ranks, I think they did away with that because of financial problems, so we brought him on trial.

"He played for a year at Under-19s as a midfield player but we saw something in him with his pace and his strength which meant he could be a decent defender.

"He believes he's a better centre-half than right-back but at this moment he's learning the right-back position because I feel he's got all the attributes in the modern day game to do himself a favour.

"David's a fit lad, he can get up and down the pitch and that's needed in modern game.

"He had a few injuries last season and he worked hard in the gym during his time out. You can see that's had an effect, not just on his game, but also his confidence. He's played a number of games on the bounce now and has got better with each game."

MacPherson has also secured youth product Ryan McCay on a deal until the end of next season and believes it is essential the club rears its own players. "Ryan has also signed a new deal to the end of next season," he said. "We're delighted to have signed them up because we want other young talented players we've got at the club to see they'll get an opportunity if they progress and show the right attitude.

"We can't compete in the financial level in the SPL, so we have to bring through our young players."

MacPherson has also been thrilled with the impact January signing Andy Dorman has made following his move from New England Revolution.

Dorman scored a late equaliser in St Mirren's 1-1 draw with Dundee United on Wednesday, a fortnight after scoring the winner in their Scottish Cup win at Tannadice.

"Andy Dorman was a wee bit of an unknown when we brought him in but we've been pleasantly surprised and that's an understatement.

"We got a recommendation from an agent saying he could do a job but you get that all the time. We watched videos of him and then I made a couple of phonecalls, one was to Mo Johnston and another to a contact in America.

"They were both very positive reports. Andy has been a very, very good player. I think Mo had concerns whether he could play in the SPL. It's very unusual to sign a player without seeing him in the flesh, I can think of one or two others.

"Any signing's a gamble but when people you respect in the game give you good reports then sometimes you've got to take a chance and he was just what we needed.

"We got told he's a box-to-box midfielder who can set up and score goals and I thought that fits the bill. After the first couple of training sessions you could see how good a player he was and he impressed the others right away."