Jim Goodwin confirms permanent St Mirren move for Daniel Finlayson

And now Goodwin has confirmed the Northern Ireland Under-21 defender will become a Saints player proper in the summer.

"Daniel is on loan from Rangers at the moment, but we have a contract in place and an agreement in place with Rangers that Daniel will join up with us full-time in the summer," he said.

"He's one for the future. We had that conversation with Daniel and his representatives.

"We explained the project we have and what we're looking for from Daniel. It was never about him coming in and getting 15 or 20 first-team games.

"We wanted him to come in and train with senior pros and compete against the likes of Jon Obika, Lee Erwin and Kristian Dennis on a daily basis so he could learn.

"He's one we're looking at as another kind of Marcus Fraser, a Jason Naismith type who could go on and have a very successful career."

And Goodwin believes the club's track record in developing the likes of Scotland stars John McGinn and Kenny McLean has been crucial in convincing emerging talent that Paisley is the best place for them to launch their careers.

"That is a big selling point for us when we're talking to parents and agents of these kids," he said. "Young players get an opportunity at St Mirren. It's as simple as that.

"It doesn't matter how old they are, if we believe they're old enough we'll throw them in.

"We've proved that already this year.

"We've given debuts to Lewis Jamieson, Dylan Reid, Jay Henderson and again on Wednesday night to Daniel Finlayson.

"I'm really pleased to get Jay tied down. The wee man has been training with the first team since I came in really.

"We sent him out on loan to Clyde at the start of the season but it didn't quite work out as well as we'd have liked in terms of his game time.

"We brought him back in January. He's trained really, really well and has earned the opportunity to make his debut and first start on Wednesday.

"We've been talking to him for a little while about his contract situation. We see Jay playing a big part in the future and I'm delighted he's agreed.

"We've had a number of success stories from our academy in recent years – hopefully Jay will be another one."