St Mirren are back in action this weekend as the Buddies travel to face Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale in the third round of the William Hill Scottish Cup.
It’ll be first ever meeting between the two sides as Saints face the East of Scotland League side at their Saughton Enclosure home.
The Buddies come into tomorrow's match on the back of a free weekend after the international call ups of Lewis Morgan, Liam Smith and Kyle Magennis saw the scheduled home league match against Livingston postponed until Tuesday 28th November.
The last time Saints were in action was almost two weeks ago as they were beaten 2-1 by Dundee United at Tannadice at the start of the month. United scored either side of the interval through Mark Durnan and Sam Stanton to go 2-0 up before the Buddies scored a late consolation goal from Adam Eckersley's wonder goal. However, despite the loss, St Mirren remain atop of the Ladbrokes Championship after a good start to the season.
Tomorrow's opponents, Lothian Thistle have also been in tremendous form this season - unbeaten so far in all competitions.
Their Scottish Cup began with a 1-0 win away to Kelty Hearts in the first preliminary round. In the second preliminary round they emphatically overcame Coldstream by 4-0 to make the Scottish Cup proper. In the first round they narrowly defeated Inverurie Loco Works 3-2 to set up a second round tie with League Two side Stirling Albion. Against the odds, the East of Scotland League side beat the Binos 5-3 at Forthbank Stadium to make it through to the tomorrow's clash.
Louis Swanson, brother of Hibernian's Danny Swanson, is one of Lothian's key players and he netted in the win over Stirling, while Sean Wringe grabbed a double.
St Mirren’s Scottish Cup journey last season saw them progress to the quarter finals where, after taking an early lead against Celtic at Celtic Park, the Buddies were knocked out by Brendan Rodgers side. Last season’s campaign began with a 5-1 win over Spartans at the Paisley 2021 Stadium in the third round. A double from Lawrence Shankland was added to by goals from Stephen Mallan, Kyle McAllister and John Sutton. Indeed, McAllister's fine solo effort won him goal of the round.
After beating the Lowland League side, Saints were drawn to face Premiership side Dundee at Dens Park in the fourth round. The Buddies, bottom of the Championship at the time, were underdogs but put in a tremendous display despite missing key some players with goals from John Sutton and Jack Baird seeing Saints progress to the next round.
Saints were given another away tie with a trip to New Bayview to face League One side East Fife in February. The Buddies progressed by the odd goal in five with Cammy Smith netting his first St Mirren goal before a second half brace from Lewis Morgan put the Saints into the last eight.
Again, St Mirren were drawn away from home and the Buddies couldn't have asked for a tougher draw with a trip to Celtic Park to face Brendan Rodgers' domestically unbeaten Celtic side. It was going to be a huge ask for Saints but they took the lead early lead when Harry Davis was on the end of a John Sutton knock down to stun the Parkhead side.
Early in the second half, a Mallan free kick was deflected off the bar as Saints looked to double their lead and cause a huge cup upset. But Celtic equalised a few minutes after the near miss through Mikael Lustig before goals from Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths saw the Hoops progress.
It was a tough result to take after such a spirited performance with Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers complimentary of the Saints in his media duties after the match.
Tomorrow will be a new experience for Saints at a ground that many of the players are unlikely to play at ever again. More than 600 St Mirren supporters are expected at Saughton for the 1pm kick-off. It's the magic of the cup with Lothian hoping to take another scalp, while the Buddies will be looking to navigate their way into the fourth round.
