St Johnstone host St Mirren on Saturday afternoon in a meeting between two Scottish Premiership teams whose conduct on the pitch has not lived up to their saintly billing.
Both St Johnstone and St Mirren have collected a league-high 68 yellow cards, setting the scene for a spiky encounter in Perth this weekend.
Match preview
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Stevie May scored his first two goals of 2023 as St Johnstone defeated Dundee United 2-1 last weekend, with the team's top scorer taking advantage of some calamitous dawdling from goalkeeper Mark Birighitti to nab the winner.
Callum Davidson's side have already scored 10 more goals than they could muster across the entirety of the previous campaign which ended with victory in the relegation playoff against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
The Saints underwent a dramatic squad reshuffle without spending a penny during the summer, improving upon last season's struggles by rapidly integrating the new faces; the team's five most-used players this term are all new editions.
Nevertheless, St Johnstone have the worst home record in the Premiership this season, recording the fewest points and goals scored while losing their last five in Perth.
However, the Saints have beaten Rangers at McDiarmid Park this term and claimed one of their four clean sheets, a league-low, on home turf against St Mirren in September.
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That defeat began a sequence of 11 away games in which St Mirren have collected just one win - against free-falling Aberdeen - two draws and a whopping eight defeats.
The Buddies did carve out three points last weekend, on home turf, with Declan Gallagher drawing from the familiar well of set-piece strikes, heading in St Mirren's ninth goal from a dead ball situation this term - the third-best tally in the top flight.
Only Celtic and Rangers have conceded fewer goals than St Mirren in the Premiership this season - although, 26 of the 35 goals the Buddies have shipped this term have come on their travels.
With just seven games to play before the fixture split, St Mirren sit fifth, which would be the club's highest league finish since 1985 when the famously prolific Frank McAvennie was up front for the Buddies.
St Johnstone, who lie three places and six points behind their fellow Saints in the table, have only beaten St Mirren once in the last six editions of this fixture.
Team News
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As captain of the Saints, Murray Davidson was sent off 58 minutes into the new season and has scarcely featured in the rest of the campaign, with an ankle injury sidelining the veteran midfielder since September.
St Johnstone's Chris Kane is yet to feature at all this season but could return from a severe knee injury at some point next month.
Midfielder Melker Hallberg, who has occasionally captained the Saints in Davidson's absence, could also miss out after picking up a knock in the victory over Dundee United last weekend.
Jonah Ayunga joined long-term absentee Richard Tait in St Mirren's treatment room when he ruptured his cruciate ligament last month.
New Zealand international Alex Greive has been sidelined by injury for the last two matches and Scott Tanser - the former St Johnstone left-back - is also a doubt for the trip to Perth this weekend.
Gallagher, St Mirren's match-winner last Saturday, may be prevented from repeating his heroics after leaving the pitch holding his hamstring.
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Matthews; Brown, Mitchell, Gordon; Wright, MacPherson, Wotherspoon, Phillips, Montgomery; May, Clark
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Carson; Strain, Taylor, Dunner, Fraser, Small; O'Hara, Flynn; Kiltie; Main, Watt
We say: St Johnstone 2-1 St Mirren
St Johnstone have not treated their home fans to a victory since the World Cup but that drought could come to a merciful conclusion this weekend against an injury-riddled St Mirren side that rarely fare well on their travels.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Grey Whitebloom
