STEPHEN ROBINSON has spoken of his dream of one day being Northern Ireland boss. The highly successful St Mirren manager has just achieved a third successive top six finish and is ‘very happy’ at the club on a deal through to 2027. But the Lisburn-born coach - talking in a special, wide-ranging SunSport YouTube One-on-One podcast out now - has confessed a long term ambition of leading his country. Robinson had been in the frame for the post five years ago before losing out to ex-Motherwell gaffer Ian Baraclough, now Partick Thistle’s new sporting director. He is very well regarded by the IFA having previously been in charge of international youth squads while he was also an integral part of Michael O’Neill’s backroom staff for Euro 2016 when Northern Ireland reached the knockout stage. O’Neill is now in a second spell in charge, assisted by Robinson’s former right-hand man Diarmuid O’Carroll. Asked if he’d relish a future opportunity to be a number one at international level, the Buddies boss - seven caps as a player - said: “Yes, definitely. “I always joke with Michael, he just keeps coming back and signing 10-year contracts! “So, there’s probably no chance of that anyway while I’m alive. “But it would be the ultimate honour to manage your country. “Michael’s building a brilliant squad there of young talent, all coming through now at various levels. “It’s a work in progress. “Him and Diarmuid have done a terrific job. “Ultimately, it would give me a lot of pride. I’m very proud of where I come from, very proud of where my family grew up. “It would be brilliant to be the manager of Northern Ireland one day.” Robinson, meanwhile, also thanked the Saints board for the faith they’ve shown him over troubled times since his February, 2022 appointment. The 50-year-old - who has also managed Oldham, Motherwell and Morecambe - endured a tough opening spell in the hot-seat before then delivering stunning successes. Apart from making the top half of the Premiership in all his three full seasons, he’s also returned Euro action to Paisley after decades missing out while achieving back-to-back, home and away victories over Rangers in the league for the first time in 45-years. But during a rough spell earlier this season Robinson was given a new contract to keep him in place for the next two years. And he said: “I’m very happy at St Mirren. “The board have been fantastic. “There was a hard situation, we couldn’t win any games when we came in. But the board stuck by me and not once did anybody waver. “Tony Fitzpatrick must have texted me every day just to say ‘keep believing.’ “Jim Gillespie, Keith Lasley…especially those three, have been so supportive. “They’ve backed us even when we had sticky periods. “I’ll be forever grateful they backed me when times were hard. “I hope I’ve rewarded them for their faith.” Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page