St Mirren look to strengthen their push for top six on Wednesday night with Motherwell the visitors to the SMiSA Stadium.

Jim Goodwin's side have drawn their last three matches - sitting in sixth place in the Scottish Premiership. Saints will be looking to open up a gap on Dundee United and St Johnstone who sit one and two points behind the Buddies respectively. 

Motherwell have won three and lost three of their last six Scottish Premiership fixtures. Wins over Ross County (2-1), Dundee United (2-1) and Kilmarnock (1-0) were sandwiched between a narrow defeat (1-2) at Celtic Park.

But the Steelmen, who sit four points off the bottom, will be looking to make amends for heavy home defeats against Hamilton Academical (1-4) and St Johnstone (0-3) in their last two matches. 

Match Details

St Mirren v Motherwell
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Wednesday 24th February 2021
Kick-off: 6pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium

How to watch the match

St Mirren season ticket holders and international subscribers to St Mirren TV can watch the match live on tv.stmirren.com.

The match is also available on PPV (ppv.stmirren.com) to supporters inside the UK and Ireland for £12.50. Click here to buy now. 

Previous

Saints are unbeaten in the last five against Motherwell - winning three and drawing two. 

In the most recent fixture this season, a late Jamie McGrath penalty earned a 1-1 draw for the Buddies when Motherwell visited the SMiSA Stadium in January.

Saints were victorious when they travelled to Motherwell in December picking up a 1-0 win at Fir Park. 

The officials

The referee on Wednesday night is Kevin Clancy. The linesmen are Calum Spence and Gary Hilland, with David Lowe is the fourth official.

St Mirren drew their third match in a row following a stalemate with Livingston at the SMiSA Stadium.

A Conor McCarthy own-goal gave the visitors an early lead before a stunning Cammy MacPherson goal got Saints level before the break. And 1-1 was how it would finish as Jim Goodwin's side stayed in sixth and moved a point ahead of Dundee United. 

The manager made two changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Hamilton Academical on Wednesday with Ryan Flynn and Dylan Connolly in for Kyle McAllister and Lee Erwin.

Saints had started brightly - winning a free-kick in a good area, centrally, 25 yards from goal on three minutes. Ilkay Durmus took as he looked to add to his goal on Wednesday night, but slammed into the wall.

Then, with just seven minutes played, Livingston went in front. It was fortuitous for the visitors as Richard Tait's headed clearance bounced off McCarthy and into the Saints net. 

But immediately, St Mirren went in search for a quick equaliser with MacPherson using the horrendous conditions to let fly from distance. It was an awkward one for Livingston goalkeeper Robby McCrorie who just managed to punch clear. 

Craig Sibbald then had a go from 20 yards which Jak Alnwick had to get down well to push away on the half-hour mark. 

Two minutes later, the Buddies were level thanks to a stunning strike from MacPherson. A good passage of play saw Jon Obika flick the ball on to the Saints Academy graduate who drove forward before cracking into the top corner of the net from 20 yards with his weaker foot.

The conditions were getting the better of the match in the second-half with swirling wind and rain making it difficult for either side to get the ball down and play. It took until the last 10 minutes of the game for Saints to really exert pressure in search of a winner. 

Lee Erwin, who came on for the goalscorer, did brilliantly to nod down a Marcus Fraser pass into the path of fellow substitute Kyle McAllister. The number 10 had his shot blocked by a Livi defender. It then fell to Durmus whose hit was deflected over by Efe Ambrose. 

A minute later McCrorie was forced into a stop from Tait's powerful effort from the edge of the area. The 'keeper couldn't take it at the first attempt but managed to smother before Erwin could get on the end of it. 

Full-Time: St Mirren 1-1 Livingston

JIM GOODWIN POST-MATCH REACTION

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy (c), Tait, Flynn, MacPherson (Erwin 73), Erhahon, Durmus, Connolly (McAllister 60), Obika
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Urminsky, Finlayson, Henderson, Jamieson

Livingston: McCrorie, Devlin, Ambrose, Guthrie (c), Serrano, Holt, Sibbald (Lawson 64), Mullin (Emmanuel-Thomas 69), Pittman, Forrest (Taylor-Sinclair 56), Reilly (Kabia 64)
Subs Not Used: Stryjek, McMillan, Pignatiello, Tiffoney, Poplatnik

Referee: William Collum
Assistant Referee: Graeme Leslie
Assistant Referee: Michael Banks
Fourth Official: Gavin Ross

Saints are back in action on Saturday afternoon as we host Livingston at the SMiSA Stadium for a Scottish Premiership fixture.

We have a limited edition run of programmes, published in partnership with Curtis Sport, for the behind closed doors Scottish Premiership fixture played on Saturday 20th February.

This issue is a 32 pager with a £3 cover price.

This latest edition includes the following:

Front Cover – Ryan Flynn.
Jim Goodwin - The manager's thoughts on recent matches and his take on Saturday's fixture against Livi.
The Opposition – We run the rule over David Martindale's Livingston squad.
St Mirren Programme Archive - Derek Drennan's review of the programme for Saints vs Livi on 28th November 2017.
Centre Page Poster – Dean Lyness.
Player Kit Sponsors 2020/21 – Check in to see who is sponsoring your favourite player's shirt for the season.
Marketing Matters – Campbell Kennedy updates on the latest events and happenings at the club's Commercial Department.
Yesterday's Saints – David Cochran looks back on the St Mirren career of George Stewart.
Football Bloody Hell - Alan Gallacher pays tribute to the St Mirren side who beat Celtic 3-0 at Celtic Park on 7th April 1990.
St Mirren Fixtures & Results 2020/21 – A handy reference page of all the fixtures and results for this season.
Team Lines – The two squads and match officials for Saturday's match.

To buy this issue or to place your programme subscription for the 2020/21 season click HERE.

It's the second of four home matches in a row for Saints as Jim Goodwin's side welcome Livingston to the SMiSA Stadium on Saturday.

The Buddies picked up a point on Wednesday night with a 1-1 draw against Hamilton which took Saints back into the top six. 

Livingston sit five points above St Mirren in fifth place in the Scottish Premiership. The West Lothian side have lost their last two Scottish Premiership matches after having gone on an 11 match unbeaten run in the league.

A 3-0 loss to Dundee United at Tannadice followed a 2-1 defeat against St Johnstone at the Tony Macaroni Arena. 

Match Details

St Mirren v Livingston
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Saturday 20th February 2021
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium

How to watch the match

St Mirren season ticket holders and international subscribers to St Mirren TV can watch the match live on tv.stmirren.com.

The match is also available on PPV (ppv.stmirren.com) to supporters inside the UK and Ireland for £12.50. Click here to buy now. 

Campbell Money joins match day host Ali De Foy, while Head of Academy Allan McManus is on co-commentary duty.

Previous

The Buddies have won both league fixtures against Livingston this season - winning 1-0 at the SMiSA Stadium on the opening day of the season thanks to Richard Tait's first St Mirren goal.

Jake Doyle-Hayes then netted his first, and so far only, Saints goal in a 1-0 win at Livingston in November. 

Livingston won by the same scoreline when the two sides met in the Betfred Cup semi-final at Hampden in January.

The officials

William Collum is the referee for Saturday's match. Graeme Leslie and Michael Banks are the linesmen, while Gavin Ross is the fourth official.

St Mirren were held to a 1-1 draw against Hamilton Academical at the SMiSA Stadium in the Scottish Premiership. 

Ilkay Durmus' third goal of the season gave Saints the lead early in the second-half, but Accies levelled thanks to a deflected strike from Bruce Anderson on 68 minutes.

Ethan Erhahon had the ball in the net with just over 10 minutes remaining though Jon Obika was ruled out for offside in the build-up despite replays showing the forward to be onside. 

The Buddies started brightly with a Cammy MacPherson free-kick on eight minutes deflecting just wide from range. Erhahon curled wide from the resulting corner, while Lee Erwin and Durmus both sent efforts over from distance. 

Saints continued to pressure with Brian Easton heading off his own bar on 22 minutes following a stramash in the Accies box. 

Richard Tait twice went close to grabbing the opener. The full-back struck the post with a low effort after a well-worked Saints move before forcing a really good save from Hamilton goalkeeper Ryan Fulton who has to stretch to his left to keep the header from creeping over the line. 

Despite having the best of the first-half, the Buddies almost found themselves behind in the dying moments of the first 45. A loose Marcus Fraser header across the St Mirren box was pounced upon by Anderson whose low drive had to be cleared by Fraser after the defender raced back onto the line.

Anderson really should have given the visitors the lead five minutes into the second-half when he was presented with free header six yards out. But somehow he nodded over. 

Then, within three minutes, St Mirren found the opener. Obika brilliantly brought the ball down in the Hamilton box before feeding it to Kyle McAllister on the edge of the area. The Saints number 10 shuffled the ball between his feet as he looked for an opportunity to get a strike away under pressure from the Accies defence. He eventually rolled the ball to the left where Durmus took one touch before cracking home into the far corner from 18 yards. 

It was the visitors who seemed galvanised by the goal as they put the Buddies under pressure. And that pressure would tell when Anderson's hit from just inside the St Mirren box deflected off Saints skipper Joe Shaughnessy to take it beyond Jak Alnwick to level.

With 15 minutes remaining the visitors looked like they would go in front when Marios Ogkmpoe was sent racing clear one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Alnwick was quick off his line to make a tremendous block to deny the Accies frontman. 

St Mirren should have been back in front on 79 minutes when Erhahon blasted home Obika's brilliant nod down, only for the far side linesman to flag for offside even though the Saints striker appearing to be on. It was a frustrating decision on what proved to be a frustrating night for Jim Goodwin's men. 

Full-Time: St Mirren 1-1 Hamilton Academical

JIM GOODWIN POST-MATCH REACTION

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy, Tait (Connolly 84), McAllister, MacPherson, Erhahon (Flynn 77), Durmus, Erwin, Obika
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Urminsky, Finlayson, Henderson, Jamieson

Hamilton: Fulton, Hamilton, A. Martin (S. Martin 25), Easton, Hodson, Odoffin, Trafford (Hughes 81), McMann, Callachan, Anderson (Moyo 90), Ogkmpoe 
Subs Not Used: Gourlay, Stirling, Mimnaugh, Winter, Munro, Smith

Referee: Steven McLean
Assistant Referee: Daniel McFarlane 
Assistant Referee: Stuart Stevenson
Fourth Official: Steven Reid

St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce that the manager, Jim Goodwin and assistant manager Lee Sharp have signed new three-year contracts with the Club through to June 2024.

The Board recognise the dedication and commitment that Jim has given to the club and the initial benefits of this can be seen with the developing success on the park.  In this challenging season, Jim has led the Club to a Hampden semi-final and achieved league success with historic wins. Jim continues to be an excellent ambassador for the Club and his work with the St Mirren Foundation and the causes they support is evidence of his passion and commitment for the Club and the wider community it supports.

Jim’s commitment to a longer-term deal will allow us to build on the Club's ambitious plans. In the last year the club has signed a Scottish internationalist, an ex-English premiership player, have invested in The Academy, and Stadium and Ralston infrastructure upgrades. The Board will now be looking to extend contracts of key players in coming period, and develop an enhanced scouting department to ensure we have the right platform on the park to allow Jim Goodwin to continue to build on the success of this season.

It is an exciting time for St Mirren on the park, as we strive to achieve the footballing ambitions that we set at the beginning of this season. We are also working hard to prepare for the future and the return of our fans to the SMISA Stadium. We are working to develop all non-football commercial activity to make sure that when our fans return, they can have a new, contemporary, enhanced experience when we all get back to backing the Buddies safely from the stands.

Chief Executive, Tony Fitzpatrick explained: "The Board has recognised the excellent results and progress this season under Jim and to continue developing as a club we see this as an integral piece of the plan.  Jim has been given one of the highest player budgets of any St Mirren manager and he is now the highest paid manager in club’s history. The immediate focus will continue to be on Jim leading the team to a potential top six finish. This deal allows everyone to plan longer term to bring further success to our Club.  We are an ambitious Club and we believe with Jim ambitions we have an exciting, successfully future ahead."

Jim Goodwin commented: "I'm delighted to extend my contract here. I appreciate the board offering the new deal to me and for the recognition of the hard work that myself and my staff are doing here. 

"It's a great time to be a part of this club. I feel there is a real air of positivity and we have SMiSA soon to take over the ownership of the club and the introduction of Kibble which is a fantastic step in the right direction. There are really good people on the board who are as keen as I am to take the club forward and take it to the next level."

Watch the manager's interview in full on St Mirren TV. 

St Mirren are back at the SMiSA Stadium on Wednesday night as we host Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Premiership.

Saints made it three unbeaten on the road on Saturday with a 0-0 draw away to Aberdeen. Following the draw, the Buddies have taken seven points from nine in their last three away matches. 

Despite the point, Saints dropped to seventh in the Premiership but would return to sixth place with a win or a draw on Wednesday.

Hamilton hauled themselves off the foot of the table on Saturday with an emphatic 4-1 win away to Motherwell. That followed up on a 1-1 draw with Rangers the previous weekend.

Match Details

St Mirren v Hamilton Academical
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Wednesday 17th February 2021
Kick-off: 6pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium

How to watch the match

St Mirren season ticket holders and international subscribers to St Mirren TV can watch the match live on tv.stmirren.com.

The match is also available on PPV (ppv.stmirren.com) to supporters inside the UK and Ireland for £12.50. Click here to buy now. 

David Van Zanten will join matchday host Ali De Foy on St Mirren TV. 

Previous

This is just the second meeting between the two clubs this season. 

Saints were victorious when Jim Goodwin's side visited Hamilton in August. Jon Obika's first-half goal was enough to secure a 1-0 win in Lanarkshire.

The Buddies are unbeaten in their last six against Accies - winning three and drawing three.  

The officials

The referee on Wednesday night is Steven McLean. His linesmen are Daniel McFarlane and Stuart Stevenson. Steven Reid is the fourth official.

Neither side could be separated at a blustery Pittodrie this afternoon as Saints drew 0-0 with Aberdeen. 

The windy conditions in the Granite City made it tough for each side with very few real opportunities throughout the 90 minutes as it ended in stalemate.

It was Saints who had the best chance of the match and it came early doors with Ryan Flynn going close to scoring his first goal in almost two years on eight minutes. The midfielder was in the right place inside the box to meet Ilkay Durmus' cross from the left. He got his foot to it only for Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis to instinctively block the side-footed effort at the near post. 

The wind was wreaking havoc at Pittodrie but it almost came to St Mirren's benefit on 21 minutes. It caught Durmus' free-kick from the right and forced Lewis to tip over the bar as it looked like it might sneak in. 

Chances were limited for both sides with a low Florian Kamberi strike from 30 yards, which was well held by Jak Alnwick, the best the home side had to show in the first-half. 

Saints were forced into a change at the break when Cammy MacPherson was introduced in place of the injured Jake Doyle-Hayes who is expected to have an x-ray later this evening to reveal the extent of the damage. 

The second-half followed the same sort of rhythm as the first with the wind not allowing either side to create many chances. Fraser Hornby curled a free-kick wide from 25 yards on 54 minutes, while substitute Jon Obika volleyed over from the edge of the box with 12 minutes remaining.

The Buddies were probing in the difficult conditions and did look the more likely as they searched for a winner in the last 10 minutes. Kyle McAllister's free-kick centrally from distance was straight down the throat of Lewis before the goalkeeper made tremendous stop to deny Obika at the far post after the Saints forward had met a MacPherson free-kick. It wouldn't have counted however as referee Euan Anderson deemed the ball came off the hand of the striker.

In the end a point was probably a fair result for both sides with Saints still in the hunt for a top six place.

Full-Time: Aberdeen 0-0 St Mirren

JIM GOODWIN REACTION

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy (c), Tait, Flynn, Doyle-Hayes (MacPherson 46), Erhahon, Durmus, Connolly (McAllister 76), Erwin (Obika 59)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Urminsky, Finlayson, Mason, Henderson, Jamieson

Aberdeen: Lewis, McCrorie, Hoban, Considine, Hayes, McGinn (McLennan 77), Campbell, Ferguson, Kennedy (Ross 85), Kamberi, Hornby (Hendry 77)
Subs Not Used: Woods, Logan, Taylor, McGeouch, Virtanen, MacKenzie

Referee: Euan Anderson
Assistant Referee: Drew Kirkland
Assistant Referee: Joseph Lawson
Fourth Official: William Collum

St Mirren get set for their fourth match of eight in February as the Buddies travel to Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership.

Jim Goodwin's side go into the match having won three of their last five - two of which came on the road. The Buddies have been victorious in their last two away matches defeating Dundee United (5-1) and Celtic (2-1) at the end of January. 

Saints have since won one and lost two of their three matches in February. A 2-0 win over Kilmarnock last Saturday was sandwiched between midweek losses to Hibernian (1-2) and Celtic (0-4). 

Aberdeen come into Saturday's match having won just one of their last five matches.

The Dons defeated Motherwell 2-0 at Pittodrie on 23rd January, before going on to draw 0-0 with St Johnstone & Livingston and lose to Livingston (0-2) & Hibernian (0-2).

Match Details

Aberdeen v St Mirren
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Saturday 13th February 2021
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: Pittodrie Stadium

How to watch the match

Aberdeen are offering pay-per-view for Saturday's match at a price of £12.99. Click here to buy now.

St Mirren TV international subscribers can watch on St Mirren TV as part of their subscription.  

Previous

Saints and Aberdeen have faced off three times this season with very little to separate the two.

There has been one win each and a draw in the three meetings this season.

The first saw St Mirren narrowly edged at Pittodrie in October. Ethan Erhahon had given Saints a second-half lead, but Marley Watkins levelled 17 minutes later. The Buddies were left empty-handed when Lewis Ferguson struck in injury time to seal a 2-1 victory for the Dons.

Saints would come out on top when the two sides met at the SMiSA Stadium in the last 16 of the Betfred Cup a month later. Ilkay Durmus put the Buddies in front with an early free-kick before Niall McGinn equalised just before half-time. With the game heading to extra-time, Jamie McGrath scored a late winner for Saints to put us through to the quarter-finals.

Jim Goodwin's side hosted Aberdeen the following week in the Scottish Premiership. The sides couldn't be separated with McGrath equalising from the penalty spot after Jonny Hayes had put the visitors in front. 

Who are the officials?

The referee on Saturday is Euan Anderson. He is assisted by Drew Kirkland and Joseph Lawson, while William Collum is the fourth official. 

St Mirren couldn't do the double over Celtic as the Buddies were beaten 4-0 at the SMiSA Stadium. 

Tom Rogic gave Celtic a first-half lead, before three goals in four minutes late in the second-half wrapped up the win for the visitors.

Jim Goodwin's side had started brightly with Jamie McGrath having the first opportunity of the game on four minutes when he flashed a 20-yard volley over. 

But despite the good start Saints were an early double blow when McGrath injured his shoulder and had to be substituted on 14 minutes before Rogic gave the away side the lead a minute later. McGrath looked to have dislocated his shoulder and when play resumed after he left the park, Rogic was afforded too much room to break into the St Mirren box and fire an effort into the low left-hand corner.  

Callum McGregor and Scott Brown could both count themselves lucky to have avoided bookings after rash challenges on Ethan Erhahon and Ryan Flynn. 

Saints best chance of the first-half came two minutes before the break. A great Kyle McAllister through ball found Dylan Connolly whose touch was brilliant to bring it under control but he slid the shot wide under pressure from Celtic defender Jonjoe Kenny. 

Ilkay Durmus was presented with a good opportunity on 49 minutes when Jon Obika was fouled on the edge of the Celtic box. The Turkish winger stepped up to take the free-kick but cannoned off the Celtic wall.

And in truth the Buddies never really got themselves going in the second-half. In a five minute spell before the hour-mark, McGregor dragged a strike wide for Celtic while Odsonne Edouard sent a shot wide from close range before David Turnbull was twice denied by Saints goalkeeper Jak Alnwick. 

With 13 minutes remaining, Celtic were awarded a penalty-kick. It looked very soft as Greg Taylor went down with Ryan Flynn in close proximity. Referee Don Robertson had no hesitation and booked the St Mirren midfielder for the perceived challenge. Edouard fired home to double Celtic's advantage.

The visitors then scored two goals in two minutes through substitute Ryan Christie and Turnbull to put the seal on a disappointing night for the Buddies.

Full-Time: St Mirren 0-4 Celtic

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy (c), Connolly (MacPherson 72), Flynn (Erwin 81), Doyle-Hayes, Erhahon, Durmus, McGrath (McAllister 15), Obika
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Tait, Mason, Finlayson, Henderson, Jamieson

Celtic: Bain, Kenny, Ajer, Welsh (Duffy 68), Taylor, Brown, Rogic (Griffiths 85), McGregor, Turnbull (Elyounoussi 85), Ajeti (Christie 68), Edouard (Klimala 80)
Subs Not Used: Barkas, Duffy, Laxalt, Soro, Johnston

Referee: Don Robertson
Assistant Referee: David McGeachie
Assistant Referee: Ross Macleod
Fourth Official: David Dickinson