Aberdeen have given permission to speak to St Mirren’s Stephen Robinson

Robinson guided St Mirren to their second cup semi-final this season on Sunday, as Paisley’s side beat Partick Thistle having already gone on to lift the League Cup with victory over champions Celtic in November.

He has guided the Buddies to a top-six finish in his previous three seasons, although they currently sit in 10th place, one place and five points below Aberdeen, just three points behind Kilmarnock in the relegation zone.

News of Aberdeen’s approach comes just over a week after chairman Dave Cormack confirmed that former Mainz, Hertha Berlin and Dynamo Moscow coach Sandro Schwarz, who recently left the New York Red Bulls, was in town for talks over the vacant position.

However, Cormack stressed that the German was only one of “about four” candidates and that one of them represented “a personal challenge, on a family level, that we must respect.”

Last month, Erik Hornlund also emerged as a prime candidate following his departure from French second-tier club Saint-Etienne.

However, the former Brann and Rosenborg coach was later quoted as saying he would not take up another position until at least the end of the season.

Former Northern Ireland midfielder Robinson began his coaching career with the national youth team before managing Oldham Athletic, Motherwell and Morecambe.

He has had more success in Scotland than in England, achieving a 33.5% win rate with St Mirren, although this is lower than the 42% he achieved with Motherwell, whom he led to the cup final in 2017-18, when they lost to Celtic both times.