Jim Goodwin was pleased with his the performance of his players, but frustrated that Saints failed to come away from Perth with all three points after a 0-0 draw with St Johnstone.

Most days away from home to keep a clean sheet and get a point on the board is a positive, but today I feel a little bit disappointed we haven't taken maximum points."

St Mirren and St Johnstone couldn't be separated as the two Saints played out a stalemate in Perth.

The Buddies created the better of the opportunities and had the majority of possession but couldn't find a way to break down the Perth side.

Jim Goodwin made two changes from the side that lost to Dundee last weekend. Jamie McGrath returned from injured, while Richard Tait also came into the starting line-up in place on Kyle McAllister and Eamonn Brophy with the latter on the bench after struggling with a virus all week.  

Curtis Main - leading the line on his own - had the first chance for Saints on 11 minutes. The Englishman was found in space on the edge of the box by the returning McGrath. He took a touch and swivelled before striking inches by the post with St Johnstone goalkeeper Zander Clark at full stretch. 

It was an opening 45 in which the Paisley Saints dominated possession but neither side were creating any real opportunities. The closest the hosts came was on 36 minutes and even then that wasn't much more than a half-chance as Craig Bryson volleyed wide from 20 yards. 

Saints skipper Joe Shaughnessy tussles with St Johnstone's Chris Kane

St Mirren's best chance came five minutes before the interval when McGrath slipped a wonderful through ball forward for Main. The striker made his way into the box and struck low towards the far post with Clark pushing wide. Conor McCarthy was up to meet the resulting corner but nodded into the side netting. 

Jim Goodwin's men were still having the better of the match in the second 45 as they searched for a first win at McDiarmid Park in seven years. Main was hauled down by Liam Gordon on the hour mark as he looked to race clear on goal. The St Johnstone man was booked and Saints were awarded a free-kick around 25 yards from goal. Scott Tanser took it and wasn't far away as he whipped the effort inches over. Four minutes later, Tait went mightily close to grabbing the opener but his header was touched just by the post. 

Curtis Main was fouled as he looked to burst through on goal

With only five minutes remaining, Chris Kane was giving his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card. Saints looked to capitalise on the man advantage with Alnwick launching the free-kick deep into the St Johnstone box where Tait got his head on it but Clark managed to hold. 

In the end neither side could grab a winner in this stalemate with Saints stretching their unbeaten run on the road to five matches heading into the final international break of 2021. 

Full-Time: St Johnstone 0-0 St Mirren

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, Shaughnessy (c), McCarthy, Tait, Flynn (Dennis 90), Power, Tanser, Ronan, McGrath, Main (Brophy 68)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Dunne, Erhahon, Kiltie, McAllister

St Johnstone: Clark, Muller, Gordon, McCart, Booth, Davidson, Bryson, Crawford (Wotherspoon 67), O'Halloran (Rooney 46), Kane, Middleton (May 46)
Subs Not Used: Parish, Devine, Craig, Vertainen

Referee: Greg Aitken
Assistant Referee: Graeme Stewart
Assistant Referee: David Dunne
Fourth Official: Nick Walsh

Attendance: 3,482

St Mirren Football Club can confirm that Chairman John Needham has been served a notice of complaint from the Scottish Football Association for alleged breaches of disciplinary rules 71, 73 and 77.

The principal hearing is due to take place on Thursday 2nd December 2021.

The club will make no further comment at this time.

Scott Tanser's full focus is on getting three points when they visit his old side St Johnstone in the cinch Premiership tomorrow. 

The 27-year-old spent four seasons at the Perth outfit before joining the Buddies the summer.

It was a move that may have raised eyebrows for some after St Johnstone had completed a cup double last season. However, the move has worked out exactly as Tanser would have hoped with the Englishman becoming a key player in Jim Goodwin's side. 

And while he enjoyed his time in Perth, there will be no room for sentimentality come kick-off on Saturday.

People questioned why I would come here but there is so much ambition to get into the top six, it needed the players to do that, players who have had experience of getting there. I think it was the perfect move for me and I think I am excelling in my role here.

"Quite often, maybe it was more family and friends, but I would get the occasional message from people asking why?

"But you can’t judge anything because you are not the person who is making these decisions and I needed to do what was the best for me and I felt it was the best move.

"Basically game time was a big part, I spoke to the manager and he said I would be a massive part of it here.

"I knew I was a big part of it in the St Johnstone team but it was more me needing to play to progress going forward, and not being in and out. That comes with performances and I think my performances are keeping me in this team at the moment.

"Obviously we played them here not so long ago but it is going to be nice to go back to McDiarmid Park and see everyone again.

"I have many memories but there is obviously two that stand out as you know, the cup double are the main memories.

"I spent four great seasons so I have real good memories and it was a happy time but my focus is on winning the game."

The left-wing-back hopes St Mirren can made amends for last weekend's defeat against Dundee.

We will be looking to put things right this weekend," he said.

"The spirit in the camp is good. Obviously we have been playing really well recently and that was a slip-up but we will be looking to get three points.

"There had been no dip in performance. Saturday was just a minor thing and we know ourselves we can get back to the way we played in recent weeks."

Watch Scott's press conference on full on St Mirren TV.

Supporters will be aware that there are already some road closures in Glasgow for COP26 and there is likely to be further disruption until 12/13 November. 

We would encourage supporters to leave plenty of time when travelling to Saturday's match due to the anticipated disruption in the central belt. 

The Traffic Scotland website provides information on ongoing incidents, links to public transport info and can give access to live camera feeds on a large number of main roads which are likely to be used by supporters. You can also follow their Twitter account for quick-time updates. 

St Johnstone have also asked us to make supporters travelling by supporters bus aware of the arrangements for access on Saturday. This can be seen below. 

Saints boss Jim Goodwin hopes his side can bounce back against tough opposition this weekend.

The Buddies go into Saturday's match against St Johnstone on the back of a loss at home to Dundee last weekend. 

Despite defeat against the Dens Park outfit, the manager wasn't too disheartened by how his side performed but stressed the importance of getting the first goal at McDiarmid Park on Saturday.

We are looking to bounce back this weekend against a very good St Johnstone team," the manager said when speaking to the press. 

"St Johnstone are quite similar to Dundee really, if they get their noses in front they are very good at shutting up shop and getting bodies behind the ball and making life difficult for you.

"Dundee, once they got that goal advantage, were able to sit off the game and they sat there with 10/11 behind the ball for the majority of it.

"You see some of the best teams in the world struggle to break down teams like that. It isn’t always easy to find that killer pass or creative spark and we couldn’t do it on Saturday, it is as simple as that.

"There is not a great deal we need to change, we don’t need to make wholesale changes, we have been playing very well of late.

"That is the first game in a long time we have failed to score and hopefully in Perth we will get back to scoring goals and back to winning ways."

Jim Goodwin watches over training (Image: Jeff Holmes)

Jamie McGrath and Ethan Erhahon have missed Saints last two matches after both picking up injuries against Rangers. 

Both will be looked at ahead of Saturday's fixture, but the manager doesn't expect either to be available this weekend. 

Matt Millar is also a doubt for the Buddies after a calf problem picked up in training earlier this week. 

We're in a similar situation to last weekend. Jamie McGrath and Ethan Erhahon are probably not going to make it and Matt Millar dropped out of training earlier in the week. All three of those will be assessed but the game will probably come too soon for them. 

"He [Matt] felt his calf a little in training so it's nothing major, but he will be assessed tomorrow and hopefully with the right treatment things might settle down. We will have to wait until later on to make a decision on him but the other two don't look like they will make it."

Jamie McGrath was stretchered off in St Mirren's cinch Premiership match against Rangers after a hip injury (Image: Jeff Holmes)

St Mirren travel to Perth on Saturday to face St Johnstone in the cinch Premiership ahead of the final international break of 2021.

Saints will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat at home to Dundee last weekend.

However, the Buddies away form has been good this season with Jim Goodwin's men having only lost one of six away matches in the cinch Premiership. Indeed, Saints are unbeaten in their last four away matches - beating Livingston and Ross County as well as drawing at Hibernian and Motherwell.

St Johnstone picked up their first win in four on Saturday when Callum Davidson's outfit defeated high-flying Dundee United 1-0 at Tannadice. 

The Paisley Saints sit a point above the Perth Saints in the league heading into Saturday's match. 

Match Details

St Johnstone v St Mirren
Competition: cinch Premiership
Date: Saturday 6th November 2021
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: McDiarmid Park

Ticket Info

Tickets for Saturday's match are available online at this link. There are no tickets available at the St Mirren Ticket Office. Info on prices can be found here. We are awaiting information from St Johnstone as to whether there will be any tickets on sale at the gate on Saturday and will update as soon as we can.

PPV will also be available to anyone who cannot attend Saturday's match at a price of £17.50. Click here to purchase a PPV pass.

Previous

Neither side could be separated when they met at the SMiSA Stadium in August. Conor McCarthy had an early goal disallowed for offside as the game finished 0-0. 

McDiarmid Park hasn't been a happy hunting ground for Saints since their return to the top flight in 2018. The Buddies have failed to win in any of their last six visits with the last victory in Perth coming in October 2014.

Saints did defeat St Johnstone in the league last season - winning 3-2 at the SMiSA Stadium in December. 

Eamonn Brophy made his first St Mirren start away to St Johnstone in January (Image: Craig Brown)

The officials

The referee this weekend is Greg Aitken. Graeme Stewart and David Dunne are the linesmen and Nick Walsh is the fourth official. 

Jamie McGrath has been named in Republic of Ireland squad for their upcoming matches against Portugal and Luxembourg. 

The 25-year-old has been capped five times for his country since receiving his first call-up in June.

Everyone at St Mirren is delighted that Jamie continues to excel for club and country and wish him all the best in his time away with Ireland.

Jak Alnwick praised the St Mirren support ahead of this weekend's trip to St Johnstone in the cinch Premiership.

With fans allowed back into matches this season, the Buddies faithful have followed from Edinburgh to Livingston and Dingwall to Motherwell to cheer on the Saints. 

And that support has helped the side go unbeaten in their last four away outings in the cinch Premiership and add to the feelgood factor around the team.

Jim Goodwin's side now travel to Perth on Saturday and several hundred supporters are expected to make the journey up the A9 to back the Buddies.

Speaking exclusively to St Mirren TV, the Saints stopper says the fans have been incredible in their support which has spurred the team on to keep performing at a high level away from home.

The standout for me was Ross County away given how far it was and the noise that they made.

"It was such a brilliant surprise to see how much they were backing us and it's all been positive.

"They've been amazing from game one. You can feel the excitement around the club and we are teetering on the edge of something really good and that little push can always help.

"The fact that they are travelling in the numbers that they do across the country after a hard year and show the enthusiasm that they do it's only right that we perform on the pitch and I think that's shown in our away performances." 

WATCH JAK'S FULL INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVELY ON ST MIRREN TV.

Tickets for our cinch Premiership match away to St Johnstone are available now online.

The Saints support in full voice at Motherwell (Image: Ian Cairns)

Season ticket holders' free three months access to the full St Mirren TV platform has now ended. 

At the start of the season we agreed a deal with our partners StreamDigital to allow season ticket holders to access the full St Mirren TV platform until November 1st. 

Season ticket holders will still be able to watch home matches that they cannot attend live on St Mirren TV. However, if they wish to access the full library of content such as full match replays, post-match reaction, exclusive interviews, press conferences, features and archive footage, they will have to subscribe on tv.stmirren.com. SHOULD YOU WISH TO VIEW ADDITIONAL CONTENT, PLEASE REGISTER A DIFFERENT USERNAME AND PASSWORD FROM YOUR SEASON TICKET LOGIN.

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