As we reported earlier this afternoon, Craig Dargo has accepted a new contract offer and will continue to be a St Mirren player until at least the summer of 2011.

Saints manager Gus MacPherson was happy to get the deal settled as he feels that he needs to get his squad for the new season in place as soon as possible.

He said, "We got the news last night that Craig Dargo has agreed to a new two year contract with the Club, so it goes without saying that I am delighted at that.

"When players are out of contract you look and see that your squad is down to the bare bones when you see how many you do have under contract. So in the last few days we have brought two strikers to the squad in Michael Higdon and Craig Dargo which has been pleasing as when players are in negotiations we have got to look upon it as what happens if they are not here?

"We're delighted that we have got Craig to resign again, as I spoke to him before he left for the close season and said to him that a fit Craig Dargo is a major asset to our team. There is absolutely no doubt about that, I think we have all seen that from the performances we got.

"Craig has been frustrated at the amount of goals he has scored but we have got to look at the amount he has helped to set-up for other players and when you do you can see that he has contributed greatly to the side when he is fit and getting a run in the team."

On the other side of the coin it was also confirmed that Gary Mason and Will Haining will not be offered new deals, something Gus has put down to the present financial state of the game in this country.

He said, "I appreciate that there has been a lot of rumours and speculation regarding other players.

"Because of the Setanta situation and the financial difficulties that we are all suffering, we at St Mirren are no different from other SPL clubs. Some people seem to be thinking that St Mirren are alright in all of this, like other teams we have got to cut back accordingly.

"Therefore we have had to take a contract off the table, which is never easy to do, but purely for financial reasons we have had to withdraw the contract offer to Gary Mason.

"Will Haining's situation was similar to Gary Mason's. At the time when the Setanta television deal was obviously in trouble we hadn't spoken to Will who was to make contact us but then it became apparent that our budget had been cut so no new deal was offered.

"We would like to thank Gary and Will for their time at the Club and wish them well for the future."

At the end of last season Gus spoke about his desire to bring Franco Miranda back to the Club for the new season. Gus gave us the latest update on the progress to make this happen: "We have been in contact with Franco.

"General Manager, Brian Caldwell has been speaking with him and we should have a better idea of what Franco's intentions are by early next week."

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