Two sides looking to bring an end to winless streaks come face to face on Saturday afternoon as Dundee host St Mirren at the Kilmac Stadium at Dens Park in the second of five matches in the post-split phase of the Scottish Premiership.
The two teams trail fourth-placed Kilmarnock by 11 and nine points respectively, leaving little room for error if either are to catch up and qualify for European football.
Match preview
© Reuters
After being promoted from the Scottish Championship as champions last season, Dundee have comfortably transitioned back into life in the top flight, finishing the first phase in the top six thanks to picking up 41 points from 33 games, two more than seventh-placed Hibernian.
The first match following the split saw them come up against current league leaders Celtic, going on to lose 2-1 with James Forrest scoring both for the Hoops.
That defeat saw Dundee's winless streak extend to four matches, with losses to Motherwell and Celtic sandwiched around two goalless draws with Aberdeen and Rangers.
Tony Docherty's men will have to improve upon those recent results if they are to have any chance of catching Kilmarnock and earning European football for the 2024-25 season, with just four games remaining for Dundee to make up an 11-point gap.
The visitors are in an extremely similar position heading into this one, currently on a run of five games without victory and trailing European football by nine points.
Four defeats in their last five, with the other being a 1-1 draw with Motherwell, is St Mirren's longest stretch of matches without victory since this stage last season, when they failed to win in any of the final seven league fixtures.
Steve Robinson will be aiming to avoid repeating that this time around and instead be looking to bridge the current nine-point gap to Kilmarnock, with a goal of guiding his team to European football for the first time since 1987-88 in the process.
If they are to achieve that then a win in this one is of paramount importance as any dropped points from now until the end of the term will give Kilmarnock the opportunity to confirm their place in the top four.
Team News
© Reuters
The hosts are without up to three players for this crucial match against St Mirren.
Diego Pineda has failed to make an appearance since a one-minute cameo in a 4-0 victory over Saturday's opponents in November, and the striker remains doubtful for this one.
Owen Beck is also unexpected to make a return, while defender Joe Shaughnessy is unavailable for the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury in the 0-0 draw with Rangers in April.
As for the visitors, Hyeok-kyu Kwon is the only player missing with the midfielder out for the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury.
Dundee possible starting lineup:
McCracken; McGhee, Portales, Lamie, Dodgson; Mulligan, Boateng, Sylla, McCowan, Tiffoney; Bakayoko
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Hemming; Bolton, Gogic, Fraser; Strain, O'Hara, Boyd-Munce, Tanser; McMenamin, Mandron, Kiltie
We say: Dundee 1-2 St Mirren
The hosts have only won once in the past six meetings between these two sides, albeit a 4-0 thrashing in November last year, and St Mirren showed complete dominance in the last matchup as they won 2-0, taking 19 shots to Dundee's four.
We believe the visitors will show that superiority once again in this one, going on to win the match.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
