St Mirren centre-back Joe Shaughnessy is keen for Jamie McGrath and Conor McCarthy to stay at the cinch Premiership club, amid Wigan Athletic and Rotherham United interest.
Wigan Athletic had a six-figure bid for McGrath – who scored 17 goals from midfield for St Mirren last season – rejected earlier this month. Rotherham had a low bid booted out for Shaughnessy’s defensive partner McCarthy ahead of Saints’ Premiership opener against Dundee. Shaughnessy says transfer speculation isn’t bothering either player.
Wigan want McGrath. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
He said: “You want to hold on to them. They were two of our best players last season. Jamie got off the mark again on Sunday (v Partick Thistle). If you want to have any kind of ambition you need to be keeping hold of those types of players. No teams want to lose their best players.
“They are both good lads. They just go about their work and they know if they keep their heads down then the other stuff will work itself out in the background. I don’t know what’s going on in their heads but they certainly don’t seem like they are too bothered.
“Jamie is just so cool on the ball, he makes it look easy. He scored 17 goals last season and has picked up where he left off. He would be difficult to replace, that’s for sure.”
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