Basement club Hamilton Academical travel to Paisley where they will face St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday afternoon.
The Accies have played against the Buddies three times since the turn of the year, drawing twice in the league and losing in the Scottish Cup third round.
Match preview
© Reuters
St Mirren progressed to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup for the first time in 12 years courtesy of beating Kilmarnock on penalties last weekend.
Jamie McGrath's 119th-minute spot-kick sent the tie to penalties as an entertaining encounter ended 3-3 in 120 minutes. Killie midfielder Rory McKenzie missed the only strike from 12 yards, with Kyle McAllister scoring the decisive spot-kick for the Buddies, who won 5-4 in the shootout to book their place in the last four.
Jim Goodwin was relieved that St Mirren came out on top after stating how poor his side were defensively and he believes this is something that they 'must rectify' before this weekend's encounter with Hamilton.
After a run of four consecutive league games on the road, Saturday's match will be St Mirren's first Scottish Premiership fixture in Paisley since February when they beat Ross County 1-0. The last time the Buddies won successive home matches in the top-flight within a single season was in November 2019.
St Mirren are unbeaten in eight league meetings with Hamilton, including the previous three this season, and a win this weekend would consolidate seventh place.
© Reuters
Hamilton were not in Scottish Cup action last weekend after being eliminated by St Mirren in the third round at the beginning of April.
Their last match was a narrow 1-0 defeat in the league at home to Motherwell last Wednesday, with Mark O'Hara scoring the only goal of the game, four minutes after Ronan Hughes was shown a straight red card for a late challenge.
The Accies remain at the foot of the table, five points from safety with only three league games remaining.
Brian Rice's side are winless in eight top-flight matches, the longest ongoing run from any of the 12 teams in the Scottish Premiership.
Hamilton are also winless in their last four league visits to St Mirren, although each of their last three have finished level, including a 1-1 draw in February.
Securing three precious points in Paisley on Saturday could see the Accies climb above Ross County into the relegation play-off position and to within two points of Kilmarnock, if both sides were to lose this weekend.
- D
- W
- L
- D
- L
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- D
- D
- L
- D
- L
- L
- D
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
St Mirren will be light for options in midfield this weekend as Ethan Erhahon (hamstring), Jake Doyle-Hayes (hip) and Ryan Flynn (hamstring) are all ruled out with injuries.
Eamonn Brophy is making good progress in his recovery from a fractured foot, but this weekend's match may come too soon for the striker.
McAllister could come into the first XI at the expense of Jay Henderson, while striker Collin Quaner will be hoping to earn a starting place up front ahead of either Lee Erwin or Kristian Dennis.
Hamilton have several first team players out injured with goalkeeper Ryan Fulton (knee), defender Shaun Want (thigh) and forward Andrew Winter (knee) all ruled out for the rest of the season.
The Accies will also be without David Templeton (groin), Lewis Smith (hamstring), Scott Martin (leg) and Marios Ogkmpoe (hamstring), while Hughes is suspended for this weekend.
Rice could stick with a back three of Jamie Hamilton, Aaron Martin and Brian Easton, while wing-backs Lee Hodson and Scott McMann are both expected to keep their places in the starting lineup.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy, Tait; McAllister, McGrath, MacPherson, Durmus; Erwin, Dennis
Hamilton Academical possible starting lineup:
Gourlay; Hamilton, A. Martin, Easton; Hodson, Odoffin, Mimnaugh, McMann; Callachan, Munro; Anderson
We say: St Mirren 2-1 Hamilton Academical
The final three league games for Hamilton are must-win matches if they are to escape from danger, and claiming all three points on Saturday would provide a massive boost for Rice's side.
St Mirren have been victorious in just four league games on home soil this campaign – only the Accies have won fewer – but we feel that the Buddies will have enough quality to secure a narrow victory in Paisley.
Top tip
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 St Mirren win with a probability of 50.1%. A draw had a probability of 26.9% and a win for Hamilton Academical had a probability of 22.99%.
The most likely scoreline for a St Mirren win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.23%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.2%) and 2-1 (8.94%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.47%), while for a Hamilton Academical win it was 0-1 (8.7%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 5.5% likelihood.
