St Mirren get set to host Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon at the SMiSA Stadium as Jim Goodwin's men take on the Dons in cinch Premiership action.

Saints go into Sunday's match having drawn their third league match in a row last Saturday. Joe Shaughnessy's late header earned the Buddies a point at Easter Road in a 2-2 draw with Hibernian. That followed two goalless draws at home against Dundee United and St Johnstone. 

Jim Goodwin's side currently sit in 9th place in the cinch Premiership on four points from their opening six matches. 

Aberdeen come into Sunday's match following a narrow defeat at home to St Johnstone last weekend. The Dons were edged out 1-0 at Pittodrie in a loss that extended their winless run to seven matches. 

Wins against Dundee United and Livingston on the first two weekends of the league season see Aberdeen sitting in seventh place in the cinch Premiership.

Match Details

St Mirren v Aberdeen
Competition: cinch Premiership
Date: Sunday 26th September 2021
Kick-off: 12pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium

Ticket Info

Tickets for Sunday are available at the St Mirren Ticket Office.  

Aberdeen have been given their full allocation of tickets so away supporters will have to purchase tickets directly from Aberdeen.

As the match is being shown live on Sky Sports, PPV will not be available for this match. 

Previous

The Buddies took a point at Pittodrie in a 0-0 draw as neither side could be separated back in February in the only meeting between the two in 2021.

That was also the case in the last league meeting at the SMiSA Stadium with Jamie McGrath's penalty cancelling out Jonny Hayes' opener in a 1-1 draw in December.

Both sides did register a win over each other last season with Saints defeating the Dons 2-1 in the Premier Sports Cup. Jamie McGrath scored a late winner in a big win in Jim Goodwin side's run to the semi-final.

Ethan Erhahon scored St Mirren's Goal of the Season last year at Pittodrie in October, but Lewis Ferguson's injury time goal gave Aberdeen a 2-1 win.  

Jamie McGrath celebrates after scoring a late winner against the Dons in the Premier Sports Cup

The officials

The referee on Sunday is William Collum. He'll be assisted by Daniel McFarlane and John McCrossan, while Alan Muir is the fourth official. 

Joe Shaughnessy says Saints are heading in the right direction as they search for a first league win of the season.

The skipper scored in the final few minutes to earn the Buddies a well-deserved point at Easter Road on Saturday in a 2-2 draw with Hibernian after Eamonn Brophy had given Jim Goodwin's men a first-half lead.

It was St Mirren's third draw in a row with the Buddies sitting in 10th place in the cinch Premiership on four points after six matches.

And while Saints still search for that first league win of the season, the captain believes all the signs are positive for the Buddies following recent performances.

The performance was there, and we scored a couple of goals and had a couple of really good chances as well which is something that we maybe struggled with in the last couple of weeks. It’s all there and heading in the right direction so there’s nothing to worry about.

"Performance wise it’s probably the best we’ve played this season - especially the first-half. I thought we dominated the ball and played some of our best stuff. Second-half - for maybe the first 15 minutes - Hibs came out flying and changed their shape and we didn’t really deal with it well. To find ourselves 2-1 down after playing the majority of the game really well was hard to take.

"The lads showed good character to stay in it and keep pushing right to the end. It was end-to-end stuff towards the end and either team could have won so it’s not a bad result."

Joe scores the equaliser at Easter Road (Image: Craig Brown)

Joe's 88th minute equaliser was his third goal of the season with all three coming after the 85th minute mark.

I think I’ve probably reached my quota for the season,” Joe laughed.

"It was a brilliant delivery and just closed my eyes and hoped it hit the net.

"All the deliveries from the set pieces and crosses coming in are brilliant so you know you’re probably going to get on the end of one.

"It was right place at the right time and it’s come right in on my head so it was perfect."

A noisy travelling support of around 500 followed the Saints through to the capital on Saturday and Joe was pleased the side was able to send them back to Paisley with something to celebrate.

It’s good to have the fans back in and the away fans are always brilliant. It’s good that they had something to cheer towards the end. I hope they enjoyed it."

The team celebrate Shaughnessy's equaliser in front of the travelling support (Image: Craig Brown)

Thank you to all who have applied for our match day ball attendant opportunities. No more applications are being accepted at moment. We are currently in process of contacting all successful applicants.

Tickets are on-sale for St Mirren's cinch Premiership match at home to Aberdeen.

Saints face the Dons at the SMiSA Stadium on Sunday afternoon and tickets are available at the St Mirren Ticket Office and online.

Match Details

St Mirren v Aberdeen
cinch Premiership
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium, Paisley
Date: Sunday 26th September 2021
Kick-off: 12pm

Season Tickets ARE valid for this game. 

If you have yet to receive your new season tickets or had any issue with your season ticket at the match against Dundee United we would ask that you please email help@stmirren.com before Thursday. 

Home end tickets will be on sale (subject to availability) until kick-off. They can be purchased at the St Mirren Ticket Office or online at stmirren.com/matchtickets. 

Aberdeen have been given their full allocation so away supporters will have to purchase directly from Aberdeen.

Season ticket holders who can't attend can watch for free on tv.stmirren.com. As the match is being shown live on Sky Sports, PPV is not available. 

St Mirren took a share of the spoils at Easter Road as Joe Shaughnessy's late header earned Saints a point in the capital. 

It was nothing more than Jim Goodwin's men deserved after a battling performance against high-flying Hibernian. 

Eamonn Brophy put Saints ahead in the first-half, but two goals in four second-half minutes from Paul McGinn and Martin Boyle had the home side in-front. With two minutes of normal time remaining, Saints skipper Shaughnessy headed the Buddies level to take a point back to Paisley.

The manager made just one change to the side that drew 0-0 with Dundee United last weekend. Alan Power, returning from suspension, took the place of Curtis Main who dropped to the bench. 

The opening exchanges of the first-half saw very few clear cut chances for either side. Martin Boyle curled wide from 20 yards on 16 minutes, while Brophy also had his own opportunity from similar range 60 seconds later, but his low strike was straight at Hibs goalkeeper Matt Macey.

With just three minutes of the half remaining, Saints took the lead and it was the lively Brophy who would get it. Connor Ronan sent a ball down the left channel for the striker to chase. He cut into the box before firing low into the near post to put St Mirren ahead and score his second of the season. 

Eamonn Brophy celebrates after putting Saints ahead (Image: Craig Brown)

Hibs made a change at the break with Scott Allan coming on for Chris Cadden and the midfielder showed his quality in the early part of second-half. It was his play that won the corner from which thought they had equalised. Ryan Porteous' header from the corner was goal-bound, but the offside Boyle got a touch on it before it crossed the line with the linesman raising his flag.

The home side would find themselves level on 57 minutes and it was Allan who was integral to it. His first time ball found ex-Saint McGinn running in at the back post to smash beyond Alnwick to even the scores. 

And four minutes later the Hibees were ahead. Matt Millar was adjudged to have fouled Porteous in the box with referee Kevin Clancy pointing to the penalty spot. Boyle stepped up from 12 yards and lashed home to put the hosts in front. 

Saints almost levelled on 67 minutes when Shaughnessy met a perfect cross from Millar. The captain got a toe to it but it cracked off the cross bar with the Hibs defence eventually managing to get clear. 

The Buddies appealed for a penalty with 15 minutes remaining when substitute Curtis Main went down in the Hibs box under the challenge of Hibees captain Paul Hanlon. To his and his teammates frustration, Kevin Clancy was unmoved. 

Saints continued to press for an equaliser with Brophy sending just wide from 20 yards with a little over 10 minutes remaining. That pressure would eventually tell when Shaughnessy appeared in the box to meet Scott Tanser's cross and head beyond Macey to level. 

Joe Shaughnessy heads home to level (Image: Craig Brown)

There was still time for drama in the closing moments with both sides having chances to win it. Allan had a shot deflected on to the post, while Kyle McAllister had an effort saved by Macey after brilliantly working his way into the box.

Full-Time: Hibernian 2-2 St Mirren

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, Shaughnessy (c), McCarthy, Millar (McAllister 82), Power, Reid (Main 62), Tanser, McGrath, Ronan (Erhahon 62), Brophy
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Tait, Flynn, Dennis

Hibernian: Macey, McGinn, Porteous, Hanlon, Doig, Doyle-Hayes (Gogic 82), Newell, Magennis, Cadden (Allan 46), Boyle, Nisbet
Subs Not Used: Dabrowski, Stevenson, Gullan, Wright, Wood-Gordon

Referee: Kevin Clancy
Assistant Referee: Ralph Gordon
Assistant Referee: Steven Traynor
Fourth Official: Craig Napier

Saints will come up against a host of familiar faces when they travel to Easter Road to face Hibernian in the cinch Premiership.

Jake Doyle-Hayes, Kyle Magennis, Paul McGinn and Darren McGregor all previously played with Saints, as did Hibs manager Jack Ross as well as coaching staff John Potter and Craig Samson.

And while Jim Goodwin expects both sets of fans to engage in banter around the subject, there will be nothing but respect between the opposite dugouts.

There is bound to be a lot of banter going back and forth between the supporters. We can't deny the fact a lot of ex-St Mirren players are currently playing for Hibs, but there's no grudge match as far as I'm concerned.

"I have a huge amount of respect for Jack Ross. John Potter and Craig Samson are also ex-teammates of mine. It'll be all professional as you would expect and there will be a handshake between myself and Jack. Me and Jack are on good terms but we will both want to beat each other at the weekend."

The manager knows the Buddies will have a tough task as they face an in-form Hibs side.

The Leith outfit are unbeaten in their opening five league matches this season - having won three and drawn two to sit second in the cinch Premiership.

But the gaffer is confident his team can go to Easter Road and make it difficult for the hosts.

"Hibs are flying," Jim said.

"They've started off exactly where they finished the season last year and they're unbeaten in the league. 

"We're under no illusions of how difficult the task is going to be. We've got to have our wits about us at the back, but I do genuinely believe we have players in our team that can cause Hibs problems going the other way as well.

"That's what we have been working on throughout the week and hopefully that will come to fruition at the weekend."

Saints head to Edinburgh still searching for a first league win of the campaign. 

The Buddies have been left rueing missed opportunities as well as seeing goals from Conor McCarthy and Eamonn Brophy controversially disallowed in recent 0-0 draws against St Johnstone and Dundee United, while Curtis Main also saw a strike wrongly ruled offside against Celtic.

But despite that frustration, the gaffer has seen enough over the past few weeks to believe the luck will turn. 

Things could be so different," the manager lamented. 

"I'm pretty sure every manager out there could say they should have a few more points on the board. I believe we certainly should have.

"The frustration for me is that we've had the ball in the back of the net in each of the last three games and all of them have been disallowed for one reason or another.

Conor McCarthy has goal disallowed against St Johnstone (Image: Allan Picken)

"We could be sitting on seven points but unfortunately we are going into this one off the back of two 0-0s. The positives are that we've had two good clean sheets and I felt we played really well in the second half against Dundee United. 

"I think we are fifth in the league in terms of chances, shots and goal attempts and all that kind of stuff. There's no getting away from the fact that we have hit the target on the least amount of occasions than any other team in the league and we can't deny it. We need to be a bit more clinical and a bit more ruthless.

"I am confident it will turn. We're creating good chances and I think we are getting in some good areas. We just need to keep doing the right things and eventually things will fall for us.

"We've not carried a great deal of luck in the opening five games, but we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We have to go into the Hibs game full of optimism and be positive about it and give ourselves the best chance of going there and causing an upset." 

Alan Power and Ethan Erhahon will return after suspension to strengthen the squad, but Saints will still be without injured pair Charles Dunne and Greg Kiltie. 

We're hoping we'll get Charles back in training in the next couple of weeks. He had a slight hamstring tear in the week leading up to the international break. 

"Greg had a little bit of keyhole surgery on his knee just to tidy that up. The two boys are making good progress and hopefully we'll have them back available in the not too distant future. 

"Everybody else is good and we've got a couple of players back from suspension so the squad is a lot stronger going into this game than it was last week." 

Alan Power returns to the squad after suspension (Image: Jeff Holmes)

The North End travel club bus for Saturday's match away to Hibernian will leave the Sneddon at 1pm.

Tickets for bus are available in The Brewer's Tap - £7.

Street Stuff, in partnership with St Mirren Football Club have opportunities for boys and girls who wish to get up close to the action and be part of the match day experience at The SMiSA stadium.

If you are in S1-S3 and interested in helping out on match days as a ball attendant then please contact stephen.gallacher@stmirren.com or info@stmirren.com for more info.

All successful candidates will be registered with Saltire Awards to help them gain nationally recognised certificates, signed by Scottish Government Ministers.

St Mirren make the journey to the capital on Saturday as Jim Goodwin's side face Hibernian in the cinch Premiership.

The Buddies head to Easter Road having drawn their previous two league fixtures with games against Dundee United and St Johnstone ending goalless.

Saints go to the capital looking for that first league win of the season. Three draws and two defeats from their opening five cinch Premiership matches see Jim Goodwin's men sitting in 10th place in the league on three points. 

Hibs sit in second place in the league having won three and drawn two of their first five. The Hibees come into Saturday's match off the back of a 0-0 draw against rivals Hearts in the Edinburgh derby last Sunday. 

Jack Ross' side have won both their home league matches this season - winning 2-0 against Livingston and 3-0 against Ross County last month. 

Match Details

Hibernian v St Mirren
Competition: cinch Premiership
Date: Saturday 18th September 2021
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: Easter Road

Ticket Info

Tickets for Saturday are available at the St Mirren Ticket Office.  

Hibernian are also offering PPV at a cost of £15 for those who can't make Saturday's match. 

International subscribers to St Mirren TV can watch as part of their subscription. 

Previous

Saints were edged out on their only visit to Easter Road last season. Kevin Nisbet's early strike gave Hibernian a 1-0 win back in December 2020. 

The only meeting in 2021 thus far was at the SMiSA Stadium in February. Again, Hibernian narrowly defeated Saints - winning 2-1 against the 10-man Buddies.

St Mirren's last league win at Easter Road came in 2014. Adam Campbell and Steven Thompson scored after a Ben Williams own-goal to put Saints 3-0 in front after just 26 minutes. James Collins netted twice for the home side in the second-half, but Saints saw the game out as 3-2 winners.  

Adam Campbell nets the second in Saints' 3-2 win over Hibernian in 2014.

Manager's Thoughts

"Hibs are flying. They've started off exactly where they finished the season last year and they're unbeaten in the league. We're under no illusions of how difficult the task is going to be.

"We've got to have our wits about us at the back, but I do genuinely believe we have players in our team that can cause Hibs problems going the other way as well. That's what we have been working on throughout the course of the week and hopefully that will come to fruition at the weekend.

"We're creating good chances and I think we are getting in some good areas. We just need to keep doing the right things and eventually things will fall for us."

The officials

Kevin Clancy is the referee on Saturday. Ralph Gordon and Steven Traynor are his assistants, while Craig Napier is the fourth official. 

The SMiSA Stadium will host the Scotland Women's National Team when they take on Olympic finalists Sweden in October.

Scotland vs Sweden
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium, Paisley
Date: Tuesday 26th October 2021
Kick-off: 7:05pm

Ticket information for this match will follow in due course.