Two Scottish Premiership sides square off in the Scottish FA Cup on Monday evening, as St Mirren host Hearts in the fifth round of the competition.
With a place in the quarter-finals at stake, both teams will be dreaming of achieving cup glory at the end of the season.
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
The hosts have had a topsy-turvy season to date and having started their league campaign with just two wins in their opening 10 matches, they responded with six wins in their next 10 games.
St Mirren currently find themselves on a run of two wins in their past seven matches in all competitions, but two of those triumphs have come in their last three games.
One of those wins was in the previous round of the Scottish Cup last month when a brace from Toyosi Olusanya helped them on their way to a 3-1 success against Queen of the South.
The Buddies have won the Scottish Cup three times in their history, but have not lifted it since 1987, when they beat Dundee United in the final - but they do have recent experience of going far in this competition, reaching the semi-finals four years ago, before losing 2-1 to St Johnstone.
The hosts will need to improve their record in front of goal if they are to have any hopes of lifting the trophy this season, with only three sides in the Scottish Premiership netting fewer times than the 30 goals that Stephen Robinson's men have managed in 25 league matches this campaign.
Indeed, St Mirren have failed to score in four of their last five league matches, which has been a major reason behind their struggles of late.
Having finished in the top six in the last two seasons, the hosts are firmly in contention to do so once again this season, as they currently sit eighth in the Scottish Premiership, only one point behind sixth-placed Motherwell.
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Sandwiched between Motherwell and St Mirren in the standings are Monday evening's opponents, Hearts, who are ahead of the hosts in the table on goal difference.
Unlike their opponents, Hearts come into this match in fine form, having lost just once in their last 10 matches as the club's fortunes have turned around under the guidance of former Blackpool boss Neil Critchley.
Former head coach Steven Naismith was sacked in September after a poor start to the campaign, leaving Hearts bottom of the league and on an eight-match losing streak in all competitions at the time of his departure from Tynecastle Park.
Critchley's side have shown signs of life in recent weeks and they have won six of their last 10 games - a run that has them in the mix to secure a fourth consecutive top-four finish in the Scottish Premiership.
However, on Monday, their focus will be on booking their place in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup, a competition that they have won eight times in their history.
Despite not lifting the cup in 13 years, the Jambos have been runners-up on three occasions since then and reached the semi-finals last season, before losing 2-0 to Rangers.
The visitors have been in fine goalscoring form of late and they have outscored their opponents by 15 goals to three since the turn of the year, including a 6-0 triumph against Dundee last time out.
Hearts booked their place in the fifth round with a resounding 4-1 win against Brechin City last month, as a brace from Elton Kabangu helped to turn the game in their favour after going 1-0 down in the first half.
They will be confident of scoring goals once again on Monday, as they come up against a St Mirren side that have kept just three clean sheets in the league all season, with only Dundee recording fewer than the hosts.
Hearts will also take confidence from their last meeting against St Mirren back in October when the Edinburgh side won 4-0 in Critchley's first match in charge to record their first league victory of the season.
However, they did lose on their last visit to the SMISA Stadium back in September, with the hosts enjoying a 2-1 win over the Jam Tarts that day.
Team News
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Alex Iacovitti will miss this fixture for the hosts due to a hamstring injury, but he is expected to return to action later this month.
Elsewhere, Conor McMenamin has also been ruled out due to a calf injury that will see him sidelined until the end of February.
Meanwhile, the visitors have a few injury concerns ahead of this fixture, as Craig Halkett and Stephen Kingsley are both set to miss this clash with hamstring injuries.
In further disappointing news for Hearts, Frankie Kent is also out for at least a few more weeks due to a muscle issue.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Hemming; Tanser, Taylor, Gogic, Fraser, Bwomono; O'Hara, Boyd-Munce, Phillips; Mandron, Olusanya
Hearts possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Penrice, McCart, Neilson, Forrester; Spittal, Devlin, Baningime, Drammeh; Shankland, Kabangu
We say: St Mirren 0-2 Hearts
We cannot look past the visitors in this match due to their fine form in recent weeks - they have been scoring goals for fun lately and we expect that trend to continue here.
Despite St Mirren getting the better of Hearts in their home league fixture earlier in the season, the visitors look a much better outfit now, so they should get through this tie relatively comfortably.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Tom Humphrey
