Ross County will welcome St Johnstone to Victoria Park for their relegation battle in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday afternoon.
The Staggies currently sit four points above the danger zone but that gap could be cut to just one point if the Saints were to claim maximum points for the second successive game this weekend.
Match preview
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Ross County's four-game unbeaten run came to an end when they suffered a 2-0 defeat away at Hibernian last weekend.
A brace from Jake Doyle-Hayes condemned the Staggies to their fourth loss in their last five away matches and their 12th in total in the league this season.
With St Johnstone's victory over Hearts last weekend moving them off the foot of the table, Malky Mackay's men are now sitting just four points clear of the bottom two.
While Ross County's recent away form has been underwhelming, Mackay can be impressed with his team's performances on home soil, as they are unbeaten in their last four games at Victoria Park, their longest such run in the top flight since a five-match unbeaten home streak between February and April 2018; Overall, the Staggies have lost just one of their last eight home league fixtures.
Ross County, who beat St Johnstone 2-1 in December, are looking to earn back-to-back Premiership wins over Saturday's opponents for the first time since March 2014.
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As mentioned above, St Johnstone claimed a much-needed victory last weekend when they won 2-1 against third-placed Hearts at McDiarmid Park.
A lively start to the match saw Ali Crawford open the scoring for the hosts after just 45 seconds, before Nathaniel Atkinson equalised in the sixth minute. Both sides went in level at the break but Jamie McCart's header midway through the second half helped the Saints claim all three points and just their fifth league win of the campaign.
Callum Davidson's men have now moved off the bottom of the table but they still have challenging fixtures ahead, including clashes against the Old Firm as well as Saturday's relegation battle with Ross County.
St Johnstone are unbeaten in their last nine league visits to Victoria Park, though each of their last five have ended as a draw, including the stalemate back in July last year.
Securing three points this weekend would see the Saints win back-to-back top-flight matches for the first time since March of last season and would drag the Staggies closer towards the danger zone.
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Team News
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Ross County winger Josh Sims, who joined the club as a free agent earlier this month, was an unused substitute last weekend but he will be hoping to make his debut on Saturday.
However, in-form winger Regan Charles-Cook, who has scored six goals in his last nine appearances, is set to remain in the first XI, with Joseph Hungbo to start on the opposite flank at the expense of Dominic Samuel.
Jordan White is expected to lead the line up front, while Connor Randall, Jack Baldwin, Alex Iacovitti and Jake Vokins are set to retain their places in the back four.
As for St Johnstone, goalkeeper Zander Clark is doubtful with a knock, so Elliot Parish may continue between the sticks.
The visitors are, however, still without Shaun Rooney, David Wotherspoon, Chris Kane, Craig Bryson and Cameron MacPherson due to injury.
Davidson is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to his starting lineup, with Callum Hendry set to begin as the lone striker ahead of Stevie May and Nadir Ciftci, while Tom Sang and Tony Gallacher could start again as the wing-backs.
Ross County possible starting lineup:
Laidlaw; Randall, Baldwin, Iacovitti, Vokins; H. Paton, Tillson; Hungbo, Callachan, Charles-Cook; White
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Parish; Cleary, Gordon, McCart; Sang, Hallberg, Davidson, Gallacher; Middleton, Crawford; Hendry
We say: Ross County 1-1 St Johnstone
St Johnstone's victory last weekend will have provided them with a much-needed boost as they head into the final third of the campaign and they will be confident of securing another win on Saturday.
The hosts, however, have fared much better on home soil and although both teams will be keen to claim three points, they may have to settle for a share of the spoils.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Ross County win with a probability of 36.6%. A win for St Johnstone had a probability of 35.61% and a draw had a probability of 27.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Ross County win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.1%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.87%) and 2-0 (6.66%). The likeliest St Johnstone win was 0-1 (10.91%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.1%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 3.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Ross County would win this match.
