We go first footing in Paisley this Saturday to take on St Mirren, still looking for a first win in 13 games.
The Opposition
Its been just four games since we last faced St Mirren. Two Stephen Dobbie goals werent enough at Palmerston and the Buddies recorded their first league win of the season when Stevie Mallen scored in injury time.
The Paisley side followed that up with another win, beating Raith 1:0 at home before drawing with Ayr and losing to Dundee United. They were then on the wrong end of a late goal, last weekend, as 10 men Morton equalised to rescue a draw in the Renfrewshire derby.
At the time of writing, Jack Ross has added just one player to his squad. Craig Storie is to join St Mirren on loan from Aberdeen, but not until after Saturdays game. Two playes have left the club as loanees, Ryan Hardie and Tom Walsh, have returned to their parent club Rangers – although Hardie has subsequently gone out on loan again to Raith Rovers.
The Game
This Ladbrokes Championship match kicks off at 3pm on Saturday 7th January at St Mirren Park, Paisley. Live updates will be available on the website and on Twitter and Facebook. We will also publish pictures through the day on our new Instagram Channel
The Fans
The away fans will be housed in the West Stand on Saturday, in the section nearest the North stand. St Mirren operate the same ticket system as we do, so there is no cash accepted at the turnstyles. Away fans should purchase tickets from the ticket office at the back of the North Stand.
Prices for the West Stand are as follows :
Adult – £20
OAP (over 65) – £10
Student – £10
Child (Under 18) – £10
Child (Under 12) – £5
Unemployed – £10
Wheelchair User – £10
Carer – FREE
Supporters Buses should park on Clark Street (north side). Away fans travelling by car are advised to park in Clark Street, MacFarlane Street, McKean Street or Ferguslie Park Avenue.
The Manager
"Firstly, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
The first week of 2017 has been an extremely busy one for us all at the club.
As well as conducting business in the transfer market, we've also been preparing for a game! As we strive to get that win we've all been working hard on the training pitch, the players have been in good spirits and the new faces have already fitted in well. We're starting to build a squad where we will have competition for places so for me that's a real bonus. Going forward the squad will be stronger.
I felt that we were the better team last week against Ayr and that it was certainly two points dropped. But I will focus on the positives and I thought we were more solid, harder to break down and managed to keep a clean-sheet. It goes without say, that if you don't concede goals you dont lose games. Having said that the positives will be overshadowed by the fact that it was another game without a win, but for me if we keep playing like we played then we will win more than we will lose.
The fans have been great, not many would have given us the backing that we've had given the run that we've been on but I hope they realise just how hard everyone is working and keep giving us there backing, as I believe as long as we all stick together that win is just around the corner. Winning is all about confidence and I believe that the players we have at the club have the strength of character to reintroduce that winning mentality, once they get the first win against it will be a weight off their shoulders.
The last game against St Mirren was disappointing as we lost it in the 93rd minute, the win has given them momentum and they've started to pick up a few results. Jack and James are a good management team and will again have their side well organised, but I'd rather focus on our own team and will be looking for the same level of performance that we gave against Ayr in the second half last week and hope that we can start turning draws into wins."
The Team
In terms of the team, Stephen Dobbie took a bang on the knee last weekend and hasn't really trained this week so he will be given to the last minute to assess his fitness. Lyndon Dykes and Jake Pickard are back in training but are still a few weeks away from being involved again. However, John Rankin, Dom Thomas and Joe Thomson will all be in the squad for the game.
The Officials
Referee : Mat Northcroft
Assistant 1 : Anthony Cooper
Assistant 2 : Garry Farmer
This is Mr Northcrofts seventh game in charge of one of our games. We've won three, lost two and drawn one of the previous six, the draw being the most recent, a 0:0 at Dumbarton in October.
The Stats
This is just the fourth game between the clubs at the Paisley 2021 stadium. The game in September was our first win there after two home wins last season.
The head to heads between the clubs at Paisley has the home team well in front with 23 wins to 8 and 6 draws. That win in September, though, did break a winless streak in the town going back to 2003.