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Paul McGowan has indicated that St Mirren should not give up hope of retaining his services for next season.

Manager Danny Lennon said he had not picked up "good vibes" from the 25-year-old midfielder and that he needed a final answer soon.

"There's still a bit of uncertainty," said McGowan, who admits to some contact from English clubs. "I am not 100% sure myself.

"I said to Danny that, if I am signing in Scotland, it'll be at St Mirren."

Lennon is hoping to hold further talks this week as McGowan seeks clarity from other unnamed clubs.

"There's been a few talking, but I can't say too much," said the midfielder who signed a two-year contract when joining the Buddies in 2011.

"I want it done as quickly as possible for my own sake, but it's still ongoing.

"I sat down with Danny a couple of months ago and he offered me a great deal.

"It was hard to resist, but I was open with him and said I just want to bide my time and see what happens."

McGowan says he is happy at the Paisley club he joined full-time after a loan spell from Celtic.

"I've loved every minute here," said the Glasgow-born player who was also farmed out to Morton and Hamilton Accies in his early career.

"The fans have been great. If I'm here next season, I'll love it."

Saturday's 3-1 win away to Kilmarnock was the Buddies first in eight games since beating Hearts in the Scottish Communities League Cup final and their first away victory since December.

"If we could just have more consistency, we could do great things at the club," said McGowan.

"It's down to us as players. It's a confidence thing and that's how we're down at the bottom - we're inconsistent.

"I can't put my finger on it. Obviously we have won a cup, but you see the performance there and you wonder how we can't do it most of the season."

Combined with Dundee's improvement in form under new manager John Brown, St Mirren's dip in form led to renewed relegation fears before the Dens Park side's demotion was finally confirmed.

"It's frustrating," admitted McGowan. "I think when we won the cup, we kind of took our foot off the gas as if results will come, but it doesn't happen in this league and you have to battle every week.

"Dundee, all fairness to them, made a good fight of it.

"It was getting scary, I'm not going to lie. Luckily, other results went against Dundee and saved us.

"But we shouldn't be down there, we know ourselves.

"Obviously the cup final has made up for that massively. Because I think, if we hadn't won that and we were down at the bottom, it would have been a really disappointing season."