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When Killian Phillips left the SMiSA Stadium last season as an Aberdeen player he must have wished he'd never have to step foot in Paisley again.

An incredible stoppage-time comeback saw Aberdeen go from winning to losing having led for 95 minutes against St Mirren.

It was unquestionably one of Phillips' worst experiences in his fledgling football career to date and he's hoping to make more positive memories after signing an initial loan with obligation to buy deal to become a St Mirren player.

"Oh man," smiles Phillips at the mention of the Aberdeen loss. "It was probably one of the worst I've felt in football to be honest. I don't know how we lost that game still to this day.

"But that was one of the draws to coming to St Mirren as well, how good the fans were.

"The St Mirren fans when they scored that second goal...the noise was deafening. It was actually one of the times I have been blown away on the pitch.

"They were excellent that day. It was tough. I am hoping to make better memories of Paisley now!"

Stephen Robinson was keen to add Phillips to the St Mirren squad after injuries to Mark O'Hara, Caolan Boyd-Munce and Dennis Adeniran.

But his interest in the former Crystal Palace midfielder extended throughout the summer with constant communication to try and strike a loan-to-permanent transfer arrangement.

"The gaffer has been chasing me all summer and it just takes time," joked Phillips who could make his debut against Celtic this weekend. "Going through both clubs then after so long it just happened so quickly then I was up here straight away the day I had the news.

"It feels good when you know you're wanted somewhere. That was ultimately one of the major reasons why I was so excited about it.

"I was watching them [in Europe]. They were very unlucky in Norway but they went on a good run and did themselves proud.

"I maybe could have been involved in the second leg but these things just take some time. So I was back in London watching and they did well."

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Phillips - who also spent time on loan at Wycombe - first joined Crystal Palace as a teenager after just 30 games in senior football back home in Ireland.

Quickly, the midfielder caught the eye of then-Eagles boss Patrick Vieira who would hand Phillips his debut for the London club in 2022.

"He really took a liking to me," said Phillips of working under Vieira. "In fairness, he started me on the pre-season tour and gave me my debut in English football as well.

"He just gave me little tips and little tricks that a world-class midfielder had when he played so he was a great help for me and always looked out for me.

"I was sad to see him go at Palace but he looked out for me pretty well. I try my best to implement the tips and work on them. All the stuff that he taught me is always in the back of my head."

"I signed in the January and after the first week I was up with the first team. I got to train with them a little bit more. It was just surreal.

"These were players you used to play with on FIFA. You used to watch them on TV with your mates.

"Then you're training with them and obviously Patrick Vieira had all the battles with Roy Keane as well.

"It was surreal. It was an unbelievable experience at Palace and I'll forever be in debt to that club.

"It was a great honour to work under Vieira."