Struggling St Mirren have parted company with assistant manager Mark Spalding following Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Falkirk.
That latest defeat leaves Ian Murray’s side down in eighth position in the Championship table, prompting the club to make some changes to their coaching set-up.
A club statement read: “St Mirren today wish to announce that Assistant Manager, Mark Spalding has left the Club by mutual consent.
“On reflection of Saturday’s defeat at Falkirk it was felt that some changes were required going forward and after discussions it was agreed with Mark that he would step down from his role at the Club in order for such changes to be made.
“The Club wish to thank Mark for putting the Club and Manager, Ian Murray first in this instance and for his hard work on and off the field during his time at the Club and wish him well in the future.”
Spalding previously worked with Saints boss Murray at Dumbarton as Under-20s boss and first-team coach before joining the St Mirren background set-up as assistant manager in June.
Prior to holding his Dumbarton post, he had a strong grounding in youth coaching through spells at Falkirk, Stenhousemuir and the Scottish FA, and was assistant manager at Stirling University FC before joining the Sons under Murray last year.
Meanwhile, St Mirren have also confirmed that they will be appealing the red cards shown to defenders Jack Baird and debutant Craig Reid at The Falkirk Stadium on Saturday.
Both players were dismissed by referee Greg Aitken after being adjudged to have prevented clear goal-scoring opportunities, with Baird being dismissed on the advice of the assistant referee.
St Mirren manager Murray was aggrieved at Baird’s red card in particular following the match.
He said: “I don’t know if the red card cost us the game but it was a huge blow and it was harsh.
“The linesman has given it and everyone makes mistakes, but it was a huge moment in the game and you have to be sure about it.
“We will appeal Jack’s but we are hopeful the referee will put his hand up and say he got it wrong.”
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