St Mirren captain Jim Goodwin urges Dutch duo to show loyalty
Last updated on .From the section Football
St Mirren captain Jim Goodwin has urged Jeroen Tesselaar and Nigel Hasselbaink to show loyalty to the Paisley club and sign new contracts.
Manager Danny Lennon is waiting on an answer from the Dutch pair's agent after offering them extensions.
"I think the manager and Tommy Craig have improved them as players," said midfielder Goodwin.
"And I hope they do like I did in January and reward the manager and Tommy with a bit of loyalty."
Goodwin himself turned down a more lucrative offer from Hibernian in January to extend his Buddies contract.
And 23-year-old left-back Tesselaar, who left Telstar last summer, and 21-year-old forward Hasselbaink, who was previously with Hamilton Accies, are the only unsecured players in Lennon's first-team pool.
"They are taking their time a wee bit," Goodwin said. "I hope they get it sorted soon.
"They are two important players for us and I just hope they do the right thing.
"Obviously they'd better sort out their own finances and what have you, but I think the club have been good to them since they came here.
"Hopefully they will sign on for another year or two at least."
Lennon also believes the pair have benefited from their first season at St Mirren, who could finish seventh in the Scottish Premier League if they win at Aberdeen having already secured their highest finish since 1989.
"We made a written offer to the agent in the early part of the week and we're waiting on correspondence," Lennon said.
"I'll certainly be picking up dialogue with the players.
"We have put the offer in and all we are looking now is confirmation whether it's yes or no.
"They are two players we certainly want to keep. Nigel started the season very brightly and has finished it very strong. Jeroen has been very consistent throughout.
"They have certainly helped the progress of this football club, but this football club has developed them into very good, young players.
"I believe another season or two would continue that development."
