Dundee United travel to St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership this Friday night as they look to win back-to-back league games for the first time this campaign and extend their unbeaten run to five matches.
Meanwhile, St Mirren are playing their first match in over three weeks after the Saints squad had to self-isolate due to several players contracting coronavirus at the start of last month.
Match preview
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This week has seen St Mirren charged by the Scottish Professional Football League for breaching coronavirus protocols after the club could not fulfil fixtures against Motherwell and Hamilton and could now lose the points from both games.
St Mirren have recently recruited two new staff members – former St Mirren player and ex-Scottish Police Federation chairman Brian Docherty and risk management professional Kevin Pollock – to help review the club's internal processes and improve their protections against coronavirus.
The Saints have also recruited on the field with the signing of former Aston Villa midfielder Jake Doyle-Hayes on a contract until the end of the season.
St Mirren now hope to rekindle their league campaign after a mediocre start, which has seen Jim Goodwin's side win only two of their opening 10 matches, losing their last six games in a row.
A victory on Friday would see them remain in 11th place, one point behind ninth-placed St Johnstone and 10th-placed Livingston.
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Dundee United put their off-field issues aside last weekend as Nicky Clark's double helped them record a 2-1 victory over Ross County, their first Scottish Premiership victory in five matches.
Tannadice players were asked last week to accept a 20 per cent pay cut amid the ongoing financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
There were concerns that squad harmony might suffer amid reports that recent signings by the Tangerines would be exempt from the measures, however manager Micky Mellon insists that there were "no big dramas" when players and staff were asked to take a cut in wages.
Dundee United are hoping to close the gap on the top four and know that a victory over St Mirren could see them move within four points of Aberdeen in fourth spot, although the Dons will have two games in hand.
St Mirren Scottish Premiership form: LLLLLL
St Mirren form (all competitions): LLLLWW
Dundee United Scottish Premiership form: WDLDDW
Dundee United form (all competitions): WLWDDW
Team News
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Jim Goodwin could continue with a three-man defence that includes Marcus Fraser, Joe Shaughnessy and Richard Tait.
St Mirren striker Kristian Dennis could be in line to start after recovering from a heel injury.
Ryan Flynn could feature for the Saints and make his first appearance of the season after recovering from an injury.
Winger Logan Chalmers remains Mellon's only injury concern, with the 20-year-old ruled out with an ankle injury.
Striker Nicky Clark, who has seven goals in all competitions this campaign, is set to remain in attack alongside Lawrence Shankland.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Fraser, Shaughnessy, Tait; Morias, MacPherson, Foley, Erhahon, McGrath, Dennis, Obika
Dundee United possible starting lineup:
Siegrist; Bolton, Connolly, Reynolds, Edwards, Robson; Harkes, Butcher, Pawlett; Clark, Shankland
We say: St Mirren 0-2 Dundee United
St Mirren, who are lacking match fitness, may find it difficult against a side who are building momentum. The visitors have enough firepower to secure three points at St Mirren Park and secure back-to-back league victories.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data
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 Dundee United win with a probability of 41.03%. A win for St Mirren had a probability of 31.29% and a draw had a probability of 27.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Dundee United win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.99%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.38%) and 0-2 (7.71%). The likeliest St Mirren win was 1-0 (10.12%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.02%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 9.3% likelihood.
