Aiming to secure their spot in next season's Europa Conference League, St Mirren will welcome Hearts to the SMISA Stadium for a Scottish Premiership clash on Wednesday night.
The Saints are on the verge of booking their ticket onto the continental stage despite losing to Kilmarnock on the weekend, whilst the Maroons will be looking to build on a convincing success over Dundee.
Match preview
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After the 3-1 success at Dens Park versus Dundee on May 4, St Mirren were unable to make it back-to-back wins in the Premiership for the first time since February on Saturday afternoon, when the Saints came away empty-handed from a home clash against an in-form Kilmarnock.
Following a goalless and cagey opening 30 minutes, Killie managed to take control of the contest courtesy of Kyle Vassell, whose ninth of the league campaign past Zach Hemming was enough to secure all three points for the Europa League-bound visitors at the SMISA Stadium.
Having collected three points from as many first-tier clashes since the post-season split, St Mirren currently occupy fifth position in the Premiership standings heading into the penultimate match of the league campaign, after earning a respectable tally of 46 points from 36 games.
With sixth-placed Dundee five points further behind, Steve Robinson's troops know that a victory over Hearts on Wednesday night will be enough to ensure that St Mirren are playing in the qualifying rounds of next season's revamped Conference League - a significant achievement for the club.
After showing signs of promise during a spell at Motherwell last season, Mikael Mandron has burst into life this time around for St Mirren, with the former Sunderland youngster bagging eight Premiership goals and providing three assists in 33 appearances.
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Despite their final standing in the Premiership table already known ahead of the season's end, Hearts showed no signs of taking the rest of the term lightly on Saturday afternoon when they dismantled sixth-placed Dundee at Tynecastle, winning by a convincing three-goal margin.
Yet to score following the post-season split, Maroons talisman and Scotland international Lawrence Shankland got his name onto the scoresheet last time out, with strikes from Kenneth Vargas and Alan Forrest completing a relatively-comfortable afternoon for the hosts in Edinburgh.
Fast approaching their final away fixture of the Premiership season, Steven Naismith's remain firmly cemented to third position in the top-tier standings, 15 points behind second-placed Rangers and 11 points better off when compared to fourth-placed Kilmarnock.
After a defeat to Aston Villa in the qualifying rounds of the Conference League earlier this campaign, Hearts' third-placed finish in the division this term means that Europa League football will be returning to Tynecastle, with Naismith's charges hoping to make waves on the continental stage.
It will be interesting to see how marksman Shankland adapts to life in European football, with the 28-year-old bagging a remarkable 22 goals in 35 league games so far, meaning that he leads the Premiership's Golden Boot race.
Team News
Heading into the final midweek match of the term, St Mirren are without the services of Hyeok-Kyu Kwon, who suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in April.
Despite the Saints failing to find the net last time out, the likes of Conor McMenamin and Toyosi Olusanya should keep their spots in attack alongside Mandron.
Hearts are unable to call upon the talents of former Sydney midfielder Calem Nieuwenhof, with the 23-year-old struggling due to a hamstring issue.
After helping their side to keep a clean sheet on the weekend, Stephen Kingsley and Kye Rowles should remain as the centre-back pairing for the Maroons.
There is also less likely to be alterations in the visitors' backline due to the continued absence of Craig Halkett, who sustained a knee injury in February.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Hemming; Bolton, Gogic, Fraser; Strain, O'Hara, Boyd-Munce, Tanser; McMenamin, Olusanya, Mandron
Hearts possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Lembikisa, Kingsley, Rowles, Cochrane; Baningime, Devlin, Forrest, Vargas, McKay; Shankland
We say: St Mirren 1-2 Hearts
St Mirren are stumbling towards the finishing line and could miss out on European football altogether if their poor run of form continues.
Shankland was back amongst the goals on the weekend for Hearts, and we reckon that the towering striker will fire the visitors to victory on Wednesday night.
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Carter White
