St Mirren will welcome managerless Hibernian to Paisley for their Scottish Premiership encounter on Saturday afternoon.
With the league table now split in two for the final five fixtures, both sides are placed in the bottom half, with St Mirren in 10th and Hibs in seventh.
Match preview
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Since the departure of head coach Jim Goodwin to Aberdeen in mid-February, St Mirren's form has plummeted as they have lost seven of their last nine matches, with their only victory against basement club Dundee on March 9.
The Saints are currently on a four-game losing run across all competitions and in three of those games they have conceded four goals, including the 4-0 defeat at home to Rangers last time out.
Stephen Robinson's men can now only finish as high as seventh place, with just two points currently separating them from Saturday's opponents Hibs, but if their poor run of form continues then they may need to start looking over their shoulders as St Johnstone – who are currently placed in the relegation playoff position – are only six points behind.
St Mirren have the second-worst home record in the division so far this season, having accumulated just 16 points from as many matches; only Dundee (15) have picked up fewer points on home soil.
However, the Saints will be confident of success on Saturday as they are unbeaten in their last three meetings against Hibs, including a slender 1-0 victory at Easter Road in February.
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Just three days after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Edinburgh rivals Hearts in the Scottish Cup semi-finals last Saturday, Hibernian announced the sacking of head coach Shaun Maloney.
The 39-year-old was relieved of his duties after less than four months in charge and he has since revealed that he is disappointed to have not been given more time.
Maloney – who was an assistant coach under Belgium boss Roberto Martinez before moving to Hibs – won six, drew six and lost seven of his 19 matches in charge of the Edinburgh outfit, though a run of only one league victory in his last 13 at the helm has ultimately cost him his job.
David Gray will now take caretaker charge of the first team for the final five games of the season and he will be supported in the dugout by Eddie May and Jon Busch. The 33-year-old will take his side to Paisley on Saturday having only won three of their 16 Premiership matches away from home this season.
Hibs have failed to win any of their three meetings with St Mirren so far this term, but they managed to claim maximum points in all three encounters against the Saints last season, including a 3-0 away win in September 2020 and a 2-1 away victory in February 2021, results which they can look back on to provide them with a boost heading into this weekend's game.
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Team News
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St Mirren quartet Greg Kiltie, Ryan Flynn, Scott Tanser and Matthew Millar all missed out last week due to injury and they are unlikely to feature on Saturday.
The hosts will still be without goalkeeper Jak Alnwick following his red card against Dundee United earlier this month, so Dean Lyness is set to retain his place between the sticks, while Hibs loanee Alex Gogic is ineligible to face his parent club.
Connor Ronan, who scored the only goal the last time that these two sides met in February, is expected to keep his place in an advanced midfield role behind lone striker Eamonn Brophy.
As for Hibs, they will be without Drey Wright, Christian Doidge, Kyle Magennis, Darren McGregor, Demetri Mitchell and Kevin Nisbet due to injury, though the latter two are hoping to return before the season comes to a close.
Centre-back Ryan Porteous will serve the third game of a four-match suspension, so Josh Doig is set to join Paul McGinn and Paul Hanlon in the back three.
Teenage forward Elias Melkersen may return to the starting lineup, after beginning on the bench last weekend, and he could be supported in attack by James Scott.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Lyness; Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy, Tait; Erhahon, Power; Henderson, Ronan, Jones; Brophy
Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Macey; McGinn, Hanlon, Doig; Cadden, Doyle-Hayes, Newell, Stevenson, Clarke; Scott, Melkersen
We say: St Mirren 1-1 Hibernian
St Mirren and Hibs have both endured poor runs of form in recent weeks and they will be desperate to turn their fortunes around as they look to finish the campaign on a high.
Two of the three meetings between these two sides this season have ended as a draw, and with little to separate them this time around, the spoils may be shared once again 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 Hibernian win with a probability of 41.84%. A win for St Mirren had a probability of 31.7% and a draw had a probability of 26.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hibernian win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.74%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.72%) and 0-2 (7.45%). The likeliest St Mirren win was 1-0 (9.08%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.58%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 10.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Hibernian in this match.
