St Mirren, whose recent good form has seen them rise from bottom to seventh in the Scottish Premiership table, welcome Motherwell to the SMISA Stadium on Saturday for what should be an interesting league encounter.
The Steelmen head into the weekend's game after a poor run of results that has seen them slip to 11th in the table and their manager Stephen Robinson resign. Interim manager Keith Lasley will take charge of the team on Saturday.
Match preview
© Reuters
St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin must be very pleased with the way that his team have performed so far this season, with the Buddies rising in recent weeks on the back of some very good results.
Despite those good results, which include away wins at Ross County and a creditable away draw at Kilmarnock, the Buddies have not won at home since December 19, when they beat St Johnstone 3-2 in Paisley - that was their only win in their last eight home games.
In their last home game, the Saints lost 2-0 to Rangers on December 30, and Goodwin will want to see a return to winning ways on home soil this weekend.
Goodwin has been busy in the transfer market too, with Kilmarnock striker Eamonn Brophy signing a pre-contract agreement to join the Saints in the summer.
While the player cannot have an immediate impact on St Mirren's current campaign, his signing is an indication of the growing ambition in Paisley.
Recent history will encourage the Buddies this weekend, with St Mirren having won their last two league meetings with the Steelmen. They have not defeated the Lanarkshire side twice in the same season since 2006-07.
© Reuters
Motherwell did not enjoy themselves over the festive period. Since last playing St Mirren, at home on December 12, and losing 1-0, the Steelmen have not won.
A 3-1 defeat at Rangers was followed up with a goalless draw at home to Aberdeen and a 1-1 draw away at Dundee United.
They have subsequently lost 2-0 at home to Kilmarnock and 3-0 away at Hamilton Academical, a run of results that now sees them locked in a relegation battle.
Tommy Wright will reportedly be interviewed soon for the manager's job, but Graham Alexander and Simon Grayson are also apparently among the candidates for the role.
Interim boss Keith Lasley has also reportedly made his pitch to become the full-time incumbent, but his attention needs to be fully focused on St Mirren this week.
The squad has been reinforced this week by the arrival of former Rangers and Livingston goalkeeper Liam Kelly, who has arrived on loan from Queens Park Rangers for the rest of the season.
Kelly looks like he might make his debut on Saturday, with Jordan Archer joining Middlesbrough. Motherwell have struggled for goalkeepers this season, with both Trevor Carson and Scott Fox both injured.
Aaron Chapman was between the sticks for the Lanarkshire derby defeat to Hamilton last week, and his performance was below par in the 3-0 defeat.
Whoever takes over as 'Well manager will need to deal with the transfer situation regarding Declan Gallagher too, as the Scotland defender might be about to try and force through a move to his boyhood club Celtic.
The 29-year-old is out of contract in the summer and is just six games away from triggering a one-year extension to his current contract, something that he wishes to avoid.
As well as Celtic, Aberdeen, Hibernian and Blackburn Rovers are all believed to be keeping tabs on the player, who was a key part of Scotland's successful bid to reach Euro 2020.
The Steelmen are now winless in nine league games, their longest such run in the top flight since 2003, but they have won each of their last three away Scottish Premiership games at St Mirren.
St Mirren Scottish Premiership form: WWLWLD
St Mirren form (all competitions): WWLWLD
Motherwell Scottish Premiership form: LLDDLL
Motherwell form (all competitions): LLDDLL
Team News
© Reuters
St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin has no injury or suspension concerns ahead of the weekend's game in Paisley.
Jamaican striker Junior Morias left the Saints earlier this week to join Boreham Wood on loan for the rest of the season.
There will be some doubt about whether or not Declan Gallagher will play on Saturday, given the situation around his contract.
Liam Kelly looks set to make his debut in goal, while Liam Donnelly is out until at least later this month after undergoing knee surgery.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy, Tait; Connolly, McGrath, Doyle-Hayes, Erhahon, Mason; Obika
Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Kelly; O'Donnell, Gallagher, Mugabi, Carroll; Campbell, Grimshaw, Polworth; Hastie, Cole, Watt
We say: St Mirren 2-0 Motherwell
We think that St Mirren will continue their rise up the Scottish Premiership table with a solid win against the team from Lanarkshire on Saturday.
A 2-0 win looks likely, given that 'Well are in some disarray with an interim manager and a key player in the shape of Gallagher looking like he wants out of the club.
Top betting 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 Motherwell win with a probability of 39.69%. A win for St Mirren had a probability of 32.53% and a draw had a probability of 27.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Motherwell win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.76%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.23%) and 0-2 (7.4%). The likeliest St Mirren win was 1-0 (10.39%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.07%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13.1% likelihood.
