It's new territory for Saints once again in the IRN-BRU Cup as the Buddies face off against Hearts Colts for a place in the third round.
After defeating East Kilbride in the first ever meeting of the two last time around, St Mirren face Hearts Colts in the second round tomorrow. It's the first time Saints have come up against a Colt side since their inclusion as participants in the IRN-BRU Cup began last season.
The Buddies almost came a cropper at the first hurdle of this competition when East Kilbride scored with 10 minutes remaining to take a shock lead in Paisley. St Mirren had squandered chance after chance before Dominic McLaren headed the Lowland League side ahead. Saints seemed to be heading for the exit, only for Ross Stewart to score his first goal in Paisley on 87 minutes to level the scores. Lewis Morgan netted in the 92nd minute to ensure the game wouldn't go to extra-time and sent Saints through.
Hearts Colts also did things the hard way in the last round as they battled from 2-0 down to knock out Fortmartine United. Archie MacPhee and Max Berton had the Highland League side in control going into half time. Dario Zanatta pulled a goal back soon after the interval before grabbing a dramatic equaliser deep in stoppage time to take the game to extra time. Just when it looked to be heading to penalties, Harrison Paton popped up to send the young Jambos into the second round.
The second round is as far as Hearts Colts would reach last season in their first year of the IRN-BRU Cup. After overcoming Stirling Albion 3-2, the Jambos were knocked out after a 2-0 loss away to Elgin City.
By comparison, Saints have reached the final twice in their last three showings in this cup with a semi-final finish in the other. The Buddies defeated Albion Rovers, Hibernian, Ayr United and The New Saints on the way to meeting Dundee United in the final. It wasn't to be though as United edged the match by 2-1 to lift the trophy for the first time.
St Mirren are expected to go with a strong line up as they look to keep up the momentum that has been building over the last few weeks. Indeed a win at home tomorrow would see Saints win five matches in a row at the Paisley 2021 Stadium for the first time since moving in in 2009.
Saints are without Lewis Morgan who is on international duty, while Liam Smith picked up a slight knock in last week's 3-0 win over Dundee United. Gary MacKenzie, Harry Davis and Kyle Magennis remain sidelined, but Dale Hilson and Josh Todd have put themselves into contention after featuring for the U20s during the week.
The Hearts U20s sit atop of the SPFL Development League at present with a 1-1 draw with Dundee and a 4-1 win over Hibernian seeing them on top by virtue of goal difference. However, they were bolstered by the presence of over age players who won't be available to them tomorrow.
St Mirren will go into the match as favourites, while it will be sure to prove a valuable learning experience for the young Hearts side as they aim to cause a shock against a senior side.
