Our Premier Sports Cup campaign comes to an end on Saturday with Saints hosting FC Edinburgh at the SMiSA Stadium.

Despite a 2-0 win over Cowdenbeath last Saturday, defeats to Arbroath and Airdrieonians mean the Buddies cannot qualify for the next round of the cup. 

FC Edinburgh still have an outside chance of qualifying. Alan Maybury's side sit two points above Saints in Group E having defeated Cowdenbeath 3-0 on Wednesday night.

Previous to that, the Citizens lost 3-1 to Arbroath, but took a bonus point on penalties after a 1-1 draw with Airdrieonians in their opening match. 

Match Details

St Mirren v FC Edinburgh
Competition: Premier Sports Cup
Date: Saturday 23rd July 2022
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium

Ticket Info

Tickets for Saturday's match are on sale at the St Mirren Ticket Office and online at stmirren.com/matchtickets. 

Tickets are priced at £15 for adults and £5 for concessions (Over-65, U18s and full-time students). Please note that season tickets are not valid for this match.

FC Edinburgh supporters can purchase their tickets at stmirren.com/awaysupporters. 

PPV will be available for Saturday's match at a cost of £14.99 at ppv.stmirren.com.

Previous

This is the third time St Mirren have faced FC Edinburgh with the previous encounters both coming in the group stages of the Premier Sports Cup.

The Buddies were winners in the only two meetings between the two thus far - both at the SMiSA Stadium. 

Oan Djorkaeff's late penalty was enough for Saints to defeat the Citizens 1-0 back in 2019. Three years prior, Lawrence Shankland, Tom Walsh and Jack Baird scored in a 3-0 win for St Mirren. 

Oan Djorkaeff scored from the winner from the penalty spot the last time we faced FC Edinburgh (Image: Allan Picken)

The officials

Craig Napier is the referee on Saturday and he's assisted by Alan Mulvanny and Steven Wilson. 

It's been a long, drawn-out process to get Keanu Baccus to Scotland. 

The Australian midfielder agreed a deal with St Mirren after the expiry of his contract at Western Sydney Wanderers in his homeland. But getting work permit and visa approvals have meant that the 24-year-old has only arrived in Paisley this week.

Keanu flew into Scotland on Monday evening and was straight down to training with sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday before visiting the SMiSA Stadium for the first time. 

Speaking to stmirren.com after finally arriving at Saints, Keanu said: "It feels good to be here.

I've seen the stadium for the first time and I've been training for two days. It'll take me a week or two to get up to speed, but hopefully it'll be quick and I can get out there.

"I was trying to keep fit as much as possible and I knew the day would finally come and it has so I'm buzzing."

Keanu is now hoping to make his mark at St Mirren and explained what he believes supporters can expect from him. 

I think I'm going to be a good fit for the team and hopefully we can get results on the pitch," he continued. 

"There are some great teams in this league and I'm looking forward to every game because I think every game is important. The club has great history itself. 

"I want to win as many games as possible and we have to have that mentality of be able to try and win those games and be as high up the table as possible.

"I'm a midfielder that can move well and get up and down the pitch and I'm hard-working. Hopefully I can contribute whether it's assists, goals or breaking up play, that's the kind of stuff I love."

The manager gives his reflections on tonight's defeat at Airdrieonians.

10-men St Mirren exited the Premier Sports Cup after a 2-0 defeat at Airdrieonians. 

Saints were reduced to 10-men when Greg Kiltie was shown a red card on 33 minutes and Airdrieonians took full advantage of the extra man with Justin Devenny and Kyan Gunn scoring in the second 45 to secure victory for the Diamonds.

There were four changes to the Saints team that defeated Cowdenbeath on Saturday with Marcus Fraser, Declan Gallagher, Greg Kiltie and Toyosi Olusanya coming in for Ryan Strain, Joe Shaughnessy, Ryan Flynn and Kieran Offord. With Shaughnessy on the bench, Mark O'Hara took the captain's armband. 

The Buddies dominated the early proceeding without creating really creating anything to worry Airdrieonians goalkeeper Josh Rae. Initially it was a poor pass-back from a Diamonds player that put the goalkeeper under pressure on 11 minutes. Alex Greive was quick to press the goalkeeper who cannoned the ball off the New Zealand striker before gathering. 

Seven minutes later Jonah Ayunga had a decent opportunity to add to his two goals at Cowdenbeath on Saturday. Olusanya's ball across the box was cleared only as far as the Saints forward but he didn't get the connection he would have wanted and the effort was comfortably held by Rae.

Saints were reduced to 10-men when Kiltie was given his marching order for a challenge on Euan Deveney that was high and late. 

Despite being down to 10-men the best chance of the half came for Saints on 44 minutes when Greive weaved brilliantly in the box before turning a low strike inches by the post.

The game was a bit more open in the early exchanges of the second 45 with Adam Frizzell going close for the home side in the early minutes of the half when his attempt with the outside of his boot fizzed just wide from 20 yards. Six minutes later a brilliant through ball from Ayunga found Greive on the chase, but the striker's effort was well pushed away by Rae. 

Airdrieonians took the lead on 66 minutes with Devenny the first to react to slam home after Callum Smith's shot was blocked. 

Joe Shaughnessy and Eamonn Brophy were brought on as Saints looked for a route back into the match, but Airdrieonians extended their lead in the dying moments when Gabby McGill pounced on a pass-back and rolled into substitute Gunn who put the gloss on the win for the Lanarkshire side.

Full-Time: Airdrieonians 2-0 St Mirren

St Mirren: Urminsky, Fraser (Shaughnessy 67), Gallagher, Dunne, Tanser (Strain 53), Kiltie, O'Hara (c), Erhahon, Olusanya (Flynn 35), Greive (Brophy 67), Ayunga
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Tait, Reid, Henderson, Offord

Airdrieonians: Rae, Ballantyne, McCabe, Fordyce, Gallagher (Kouider-Aissa 80), Frizzell, Smith, Watson, Devenny (Gunn 85), Deveney (Gibson 85), McGill
Subs Not Used: Hutton, Tran, Spalding

Referee: Alan Muir
Assistant Referee: Gordon Crawford
Assistant Referee: Gary Hilland

St Mirren Football Club can confirm that last week it allowed Dylan Reid permission to speak to a fellow cinch Premiership club regarding a possible transfer.

We can now confirm that Dylan has turned down the opportunity to leave St Mirren at this point in time.

The St Mirren Youth Academy graduate became the youngest ever player to play for St Mirren, as well as the youngest ever Scottish Premiership player, when he made his debut for Saints at just 16 years and five days old in March 2021. He has since gone on to play for the first-team on five occasions - most recently as a substitution in our 2-0 win over Cowdenbeath on Saturday.

We are pleased that Dylan will remain at St Mirren and look forward to him continuing his development at the club.

Due to incredible, unprecedented demand the first batch of our 2022/23 adult away shirts have sold out following its launch on Friday.

However, a second batch of away kits from Joma is expected to arrive at the St Mirren Shop in early August. A further update will be given once a confirmed delivery date is received.

Our away kit launch video - featuring men’s, women’s and youth team players alongside St Mirren supporter and DJ Ewan McVicar - was a huge hit with over a quarter of a million views across all our channels as we showed off our stylish new kit for the season ahead.

The video – delivered in conjunction with local Paisley production firm RPL Media - features Ewan’s hit song 'Tell Me Something Good' which was named as BBC Radio 1’s Dance Track of The Year for 2021.

We’re taking Paisley on the road with us this season with our away shirt inspired by #OurTown. The Paisley Pattern is the prominent feature on this anthracite shirt complemented by black shorts and socks.

We thank everyone that has purchased one of our home or away shirts ahead of the new campaign for their continued support of the club.

Get a closer look at the finer details of our 2022/23 away shirt. 

It's a quick turnaround for Saints as Stephen Robinson's men take on Airdrieonians on Tuesday night following Saturday's win over Cowdenbeath.

Jonah Ayunga scored twice as the Buddies defeated the Blue Brazil 2-0 at Central Park. 

That victory means Saints have three points from their opening two matches in the Premier Sports Cup and sit in third place in Group E.

Airdrieonians sit a point above of the Buddies with four points from their first two matches. Rhys McCabe's side beat Cowdenbeath 3-0, while drawing 1-1 with FC Edinburgh.

Match Details

Airdrieonians v St Mirren
Competition: Premier Sports Cup
Date: Tuesday 19th July 2022
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Venue: Excelsior Stadium

Ticket Info

Airdrieonians have informed the club that tickets will only be available through their online ticketing platform. Buy tickets for Airdrieonians v St Mirren HERE.

Tickets are priced at £15 for adults, £10 for concessions and £5 for U16s.

Saints supporters will be situated in the East Stand and away fans travelling by car should use the car park accessed from Petersburn Road.

We can confirm that our match against Airdrieonians will no longer be shown live on Premier Sport.

The match had originally been scheduled to take place live on Premier Sport, however, the club received confirmation from the SPFL that Premier Sports have advised that due to unforeseen staffing issues, they are not in a position to broadcast the match. 

The match will be available to stream on Airdrieonians' Diamond TV. A pass can be bought at this link for £12.

Previous

St Mirren last faced Airdrieonians in 2017 in League Cup action. The Buddies ran out comprehensive winners that afternoon defeating the Lanarkshire side 5-0 at the SMiSA Stadium.

Saints are unbeaten in their last seven against the Diamonds - winning six and drawing one - in a run that stretches back to 2004. 

Stephen McGinn congratulates Lewis Morgan after the latter scored in our 5-0 win over Airdrieonians in 2017. 

The officials

The referee on Tuesday night is Alan Muir. The linesmen are Gordon Crawford and Gary Hilland.

We got the job done. Overall it was a decent performance first-half and credit goes to Cowdenbeath second-half for their organisation"

The manager gives his thoughts after our 2-0 win over Cowdenbeath in the Premier Sports Cup.

A Jonah Ayunga double gave St Mirren a comfortable win over Cowdenbeath at Central Park.

The English striker netted twice in four first-half minutes to give Saints three points in Group E of the Premier Sports Cup. 

Stephen Robinson made five changes to the side that lost to Arbroath last week. Goalkeeper Peter Urminsky made his first start for Saints in place of the injured Trevor Carson. Ryan Strain made his debut with Charles Dunne, Ryan Flynn and Kieran Offord also starting in place of Marcus Fraser, Declan Gallagher, Greg Kiltie and Toyosi Olusanya. Saints Youth Academy graduate Ethan Erhahon started the game to make his 100th appearance for the first-team. 

Saints had the bulk of the possession in the opening exchanges of the game and forced a couple of early corners but it was Urminsky who was forced to make the first save with a good stop on 16 minutes to push away Scott Sinclair's low free-kick from 20 yards. 

Despite that opportunity, the Buddies would take the lead on 19 minutes when Ayunga netted with a tidy finish after good work from Kieran Offord down the left and the forward grabbed his and Saints' second four minutes later when he knocked home from close range after Joe Shaughnessy's flick-on. 

Jonah Ayunga celebrates after scoring his second

St Mirren dominated possession in the second 45 but it took until 70 minutes for the Buddies to really go close to adding a third. Alex Greive turned well in the box but crashed his effort off the crossbar. 

Substitute Richard Tait wasn't far from extending Saints lead with a little under 10 minutes to go when he let fly from 25 yards with the ball whistling just over the bar. 

Two goals were enough in the end for Stephen Robinson's men to claim three points ahead of Tuesday night's clash with Airdrieonians. 

Full-Time: Cowdenbeath 0-2 St Mirren

St Mirren: Urminsky, Strain, Shaughnessy (c), Dunne, Tanser (Tait 60), Flynn (Kiltie 60), O'Hara, Erhahon (Reid 79), Ayunga, Offord (Olusanya 60), Greive (Henderson 75)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Gallagher, Fraser, Jamieson

Cowdenbeath: McCready, Lemon, Newman, Armstrong (c), Martins (Robinson 46), Garrad, Donaldson, Struthers, Sinclair (Aikamhenze 48), Berry, Graham
Subs Not Used: Farrell

Referee: Craig Napier
Assistant Referee: Jonathan Bell
Assistant Referee: Michael McCart

Attendance: 638

Our cinch Premiership opening fixture against Motherwell originally scheduled for Saturday 30th July, has been rearranged due to Motherwell's involvement in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers. 

The new fixture details are below.

St Mirren v Motherwell
cinch Premiership
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium, Paisley
Date: Sunday 31st July 2022
Kick-off: 3pm