St Mirren's push for a top-six finish in the Scottish Premiership goes down to the wire on Saturday as they take on struggling Ross County at the SMISA Stadium.
The hosts are currently in seventh place in the table, sandwiched between Hearts and Motherwell, with those two clubs facing off at the same time on Saturday afternoon.
Match preview
![Stephen Robinson of St Mirren during the UEFA Europa Conference League Second Qualifying Round Second Leg match at the SMISA Stadium, Paisley, on August 1, 2024 [on August 2, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/31/stephen-robinson.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Stephen Robinson of St Mirren during the UEFA Europa Conference League Second Qualifying Round Second Leg match at the SMISA Stadium, Paisley, on August 1, 2024 [on August 2, 2024]")
© Imago
With Hearts currently ahead in the race for a place in the top six, the Buddies will need a favour from Motherwell this weekend, though the Well will be counting on St Mirren also slipping up in this fixture to aid their own ambitions of finishing in the top six.
Should the Jambos fail to win against Motherwell, the door to the top six will be left open for St Mirren, who are targeting a third consecutive top-six finish in the Scottish Premiership.
If the hosts miss out on doing so, the Buddies will certainly be regretful about their defeat last weekend against lowly Dundee.
The 11th-placed side secured a 2-0 victory against St. Mirren last weekend as all three sides in the race for the top six lost.
Hearts lost to Dundee United, while Motherwell fell to a 2-0 loss at the hands of Kilmarnock on a weekend that all teams in the race failed to gain an advantage.
Stephen Robinson's men have had their fair share of struggles at home this season, as they have only won once in the league at the SMISA Stadium since a 2-1 win over Rangers on Boxing Day.
After stunning the Gers with a 2-0 victory at Ibrox back in February, the hosts have now picked up just four points in their past five games, which has seen them fall out of the top half of the table.
Keeping clean sheets has proven difficult for the Buddies all season, as they have kept just five in the league this year, with only Motherwell and Dundee securing fewer.
Their last clean sheet came in that victory at Ibrox on February 22, and they have conceded 13 goals in the five matches since.
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However, this weekend, they come up against a Ross County side that has scored the fewest goals in the division, with 31 goals in 32 matches.
This has contributed to Don Cowie's men being just one point clear of the relegation playoff position in the Premiership, and they have lost their last three matches in the league.
Although Cowie's men are desperate for the points this weekend, St Mirren also need a result in this match, and County could be welcome visitors for what is a must-win match for the hosts.
The visitors have failed to score in 14 matches so far this campaign, including nine times in their 15 away matches that they have played in to date.
Last weekend's 1-0 defeat against Aberdeen was the third consecutive match in which the Staggies had failed to find the back of the net.
Unfortunately for Cowie's men, this is an all too familiar theme in their season, having already recorded that unwanted hat-trick on three separate occasions this season.
With County owning the third-worst away record in the division, this will be a difficult match for the visitors to pick up points in, as the league prepares to split in half for the final five games after this fixture.
Despite the negativity surrounding Ross County and their inability to score, if they managed to secure a win this weekend, then they would move level on points with their hosts in the standings.
Indeed, should the worst-case scenario play out for St Mirren this weekend, then their push for the top six will be replaced with a battle against relegation, as they are currently only four points clear of the relegation playoff position.
The two sides have met twice already this season, with County securing a point in a goalless draw on their last visit to the SMISA Stadium back in November.
However, Robinson's men secured all three points in their away clash against Ross County in December, as goals from Alex Iacovitti and Oisin Smyth helped seal a 2-1 win for the Buddies at the Global Energy Stadium.
Team News
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The hosts could be missing one of their goalscorers from December's clash as Iacovitti has a back injury.
In other blows for St Mirren, Conor McMenamin (calf) is a doubt for this game, while Elvis Bwomono (calf) and Evan Mooney are also expected to miss this match.
Meanwhile, the visitors will be without Noah Chilvers for the rest of the season after he suffered an ACL injury.
Elsewhere, Michee Efete could be in line to return for Ross County following a lengthy absence due to injury, while Ryan Leak is expected to miss out due to an Achilles issue.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Hemming; John, Taylor, Gogic, Fraser, Alebiosu; O'Hara, Boyd-Munce, Phillips; Ayunga, Idowu
Ross County possible starting lineup:
Amissah; Campbell, Tomkinson, Lopata, Wright, Brown; Randall, Kenneh, Phillips; Hale, White
We say: St Mirren 1-0 Ross County
We think that this game will be tight as St Mirren have found it difficult to win at home since the turn of the year.
However, Ross County do not travel well, and we feel that the hosts will just edge it to potentially seal a place in the top six, depending on how Hearts perform away at Motherwell.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Tom Humphrey
