St Mirren are back in action at the Paisley 2021 Stadium tonight - one month to the day since their last home game - as they play host to third place Livingston.
The Buddies have faced away trips to Dundee United, Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale and Inverness Caledonian Thistle since the 2-2 draw with Morton in the Ladbrokes Championship last month, but are back in Paisley this evening to face David Hopkin's Livi.
That run of away games began with a 2-1 loss to Dundee United at Tannadice on November 4th. Adam Eckersley scored a 93rd minute consolation for Saints after Mark Durnan and Sam Stanton had put the Tangerines 2-0 up. Saints got back to winning ways in the William Hill Scottish Cup with seven first half goals seeing St Mirren defeat Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale 7-1 to reach the fourth round.
The Buddies come into tonight's match on the back of a battling 2-0 win over Inverness at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium on Saturday. Ian McShane opened the scoring from the penalty spot early in the second half after Liam Polworth fouled Lewis Morgan in the box. Gavin Reilly showed great composure to seal the points for Saints deep in stoppage time as he raced clear on goal and finished beyond Inverness goalkeeper Mark Ridgers to net his 16th goal of the season.
Livingston continue to defy the odds in the Championship this season after their promotion from League One. David Hopkin's side come into this side sitting in third place in the league and know a win can take them top. They are unbeaten their last four matches in all competitions - beating Brechin, Glenafton and Queen of the South, while drawing with Inverness and boast a strong away record in the league with four wins from six. It was their impressive 3-0 win away to Queen of the South on Saturday that took them to third place in the league with goals from James Penrice, Josh Mullin and Shaun Byrne seeing the Lions leapfrog Dunfermline.
Interestingly, Livingston, founded as Ferranti Thistle in 1943 and renamed Meadowbank Thistle in 1974, haven't lost away to St Mirren since being renamed and relocated in 1995. The Lions relocated to Livingston, West Lothian and were named after the town. Since then the two sides have met on 12 occasions with neither winning a home game in that time. St Mirren's six wins in those 12 matches have all come at the Tony Macaroni Arena, while Livingston's four wins have come at Love Street and the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
That continued at this start of this season when Livingston visited the Paisley 2021 Stadium in July, coming away with three points in the Betfred Cup group stages when an early strike from Dale Carrick gave them a 1-0 win.
Just over a month later, Saints made the trip to West Lothian in the Ladbrokes Championship and came out on top despite having Gary Irvine sent off in the first half. St Mirren took an early lead when Stephen McGinn's shot deflected off Craig Halkett's on the ninth minute. But the Livi defender got his side six minutes later when he equalised from a corner. Irvine was given a red card a little over 10 minutes before half time after his challenge on Carrick. However, it didn't affect Saints as two second half goals in the space of nine minutes from Gavin Reilly gave the Buddies a valuable three points.
The last league meeting between the sides at the Paisley 2021 Stadium came on Boxing Day 2015 when Livingston leapfrogged the Buddies in the league with a 4-1 win. Liam Buchanan put the Lions ahead before ex-Saint Ben Gordon doubled their advantage on 32 minutes. Lawrence Shankland pulled a goal back for St Mirren before half time, but a sensational Gary Glen free kick put Livingston 3-1 up in the second half with Buchanan netting his second on 66 minutes to give the visitors a big win. That was the biggest winning margin between the two sides since two 4-0 wins for St Mirren over Meadowbank Thistle in 1976.
Barring that 4-1 win on Boxing Day, matches between Saints and Livi in recent times have proved to generally be quite tight. With both clubs able to go top of the table with a win tonight there's every chance we'll be in for another close affair. That will be the prize on both teams' minds tonight, while there's also the chance for St Mirren to beat Livingston at home for the first time since they rebranded in 1995.
You can find all the match information ahead of tonight's game here.
