Jack Ross believes his players will be looking forward to tomorrow's festive fixture as the Saints take on Dundee United at Tannadice.
The Buddies manager thinks playing at a stadium like Tannadice with a decent crowd will be a good test for his players and one he expects they will eagerly anticipating.
Speaking to stmirren.com, Jack says it's a game he's excited about as well as he looks to test himself as a manager.
It's an attractive fixture," he said. "It's one as a player I know they'll all be looking forward to because it's a great stage to go and play against the team that's joint top of the league. There will be a big crowd and it's a good stadium so there's a lot of exciting things about it. I'm very much looking forward to it as a manager and I know the players will be as a group.
With Saints looking to keep up momentum after picking up seven points from a possible nine in the last three matches, the manager admits the only objective for the team at the moment is to win every match they take part in.
The only target we ever have is to win every game we go into and I know it sounds very simple but that is what it is. We take the next game as it comes and that's about getting the three points.
"I always believe that we can go and win every single game we're about to play in this league. We're getting there with our performance levels and I'm no different going to Tannadice tomorrow. We're respectful of the opposition in terms of the amount of homework we do and the preparation we do and how well we need to play in the game, but we're capable of playing well."
St Mirren's last league defeat came away to Falkirk at the start of the month, however, Jack believes that, despite the loss, the performance that day may well have been meaningful in terms of the players believing in their own ability and could stand them in good stead ahead of tomorrow's match.
I think that game, although we lost it, was perhaps a significant one for us because they went to a team that is challenging at the top end of the stadium and for large spells were very good. I think that helped re-affirm what I've been saying to about how they're good players and they started to believe it from then so yeah they've had recent experience of going to a difficult venue and performing well."
Reports emerged yesterday that Aberdeen midfielder Craig Storie was set to join the Saints on loan in January and the manager discussed the possibility of the 20 year-old joining the Buddies.
I read Derek's comments regarding Craig Storie," he said. "Craig is a player I've admired for quite a while and I've seen him quite a lot.
"I have a good relationship with Derek at Aberdeen on a professional level and a personal level so I've been in contact with him. Subject to it all being finalised then we hope Craig will join us in the early part of January. If he does then I'll be delighted because he's a player I like.
"We're very close to bringing in a defender all things being well," he continued. "Failing any last minute hitches, which can sometimes happen in football, I'm confident we'll have two in in January and I'd like to get one more in. But getting two in at the start of January will be a boost for us."
