St Mirren will look to claim a second straight win when they welcome Motherwell to Paisley for Saturday's Scottish Premiership contest.
While the hosts are sitting in third position, Motherwell are down in 15th place after failing to win any of their last 13 matches.
Match preview
There will be a feeling of relief around the St Mirren squad after they beat Ross County last weekend to end a run of three consecutive defeats without scoring.
With all three of those losses taking place on the road, the return to home comforts proved to be crucial, as a Ryan Leak own goal and a Jonah Ayunga strike helped guide the Buddies to a 2-0 victory over Ross County, which moved them up one place from fourth position.
While St Mirren may have inched up the table, just two points separate third from sixth place, highlighting the need for them to regularly pick up points if they are to end their 35-year wait for European football.
After enjoying a successful outing last weekend, the Buddies now have the chance to claim consecutive victories for the first time since September when they beat Motherwell 1-0 in their most recent head-to-head meeting before recording a narrow win over Hearts.
Former Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson will certainly be optimistic about his team's chances, having seen his side win five of their eight home league games this season (D2, L1), including three of their last four matches at The SMISA Stadium.
While St Mirren are dreaming of gracing the European stage, Motherwell are battling for their top-flight status with only goal difference keeping Stuart Kettlewell's side outside the bottom two.
They are currently on a 13-game winless run (D5, L8), which began with a narrow defeat in September's home meeting with Saturday's opponents.
If Motherwell are to claim their first win since September 3, they will need to shore up a leaky backline that has conceded 29 goals league goals this season, which leaves them with the worst defensive record in the top flight.
They have also struggled at the other end of the pitch on their travels, having failed to score in four of their last six away matches, while they registered just five away goals in total – only St Johnstone have netted fewer goals on their travels in the 2023-24 campaign.
After losing 1-0 in both of their competitive away meetings with St Mirren this term, the visitors will go into the contest looking for revenge and a repeat of the 2-1 victory that they recorded in their most recent win over the Buddies in February earlier this year.
Team News
St Mirren remain without the services of defender Ryan Strain and midfielder Ryan Flynn due to groin and hamstring injuries respectively.
Caolan Boyd-Munce is also a doubt for Saturday's home fixture after he was forced off in the 18th minute of last weekend's win over Ross County.
Buoyed from opening his account for the season, Ayunga will continue to lead the St Mirren line alongside Stav Nachmani.
As for the visitors, Kettlewell has revealed that Dan Casey is set to miss six to eight weeks with an ankle injury that kept him out of the recent 1-1 draw with St Johnstone.
The 26-year-old is joined on the sidelines by Lennon Miller and Pape Souare, while Callum Butcher and Paul McGinn will have to be assessed following their respective injury issues.
Having scored six times in nine appearances, Biereth will look to add to his tally when he partners Jonathan Obika in the front two.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Hemming; Gogic, Taylor, Fraser; Small, Baccus, O'Hara, Kiltie, Tanser; Ayunga, Nachmani
Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Kelly; O'Donnell, Mugabi, Blaney; Spencer, Slattery, Zdravkovski, Spittal, Gent; Biereth, Obika
We say: St Mirren 2-1 Motherwell
St Mirren have already claimed two competitive victories over Motherwell this season, and after they restored some belief with a win over St Johnstone last weekend, we think that the hosts will claim a narrow victory against a Motherwell side that is low on confidence.
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