St Mirren close out 2017 with a top of the table clash against Dundee United at the Paisley 2021 Stadium tonight.
Tonight's match goes ahead despite the weather as top of the table Buddies play host to Csaba Laszlo's second place United side. It's a far cry from how Saints ended 2016 when a 1-1 draw at home to Morton saw the Buddies sit six points adrift at the bottom of the league.
Saints come into tonight's match on a high after coming from 2-0 down to defeat Queen of the South 3-2 last weekend to ensure they were top heading into Christmas. Queens were 2-0 ahead inside six minutes through goals from Stephen Dobbie and Chris Kane. But The Buddies roared back thanks to a double from Gavin Reilly before the returning Gary MacKenzie grabbed the winner.
United also head into the game in good spirits also after defeating Livingston 3-0 at Tannadice last Saturday. Ex-Saint Paul McMullan scored twice for the Arabs either side of a Scott McDonald goal.
Despite what has been a testing season for United where they have replaced Ray MacKinnon with Csaba Laszlo, the Arabs sit just two points behind Saints in the Ladbrokes Championship with a game in hand. They've won four of their last five league matches since their win against Saints at the start of November and are unbeaten in their last seven league matches. However, despite the confidence they'll have coming into tonight's match, they were dealt a major blow when it was announced that midfielder Fraser Fyvie is set to miss the rest of the season.
The Buddies have faced United twice already this season - winning one and losing the other. The first saw an emphatic Saints victory back in August as a double from Lewis Morgan and a first St Mirren goal for Ian McShane saw St Mirren run out convincing 3-0 winners.
United exacted a measure of revenge in the November fixture when they hosted the Buddies at Tannadice. Goals from Mark Durnan and Sam Stanton put the home side 2-0 in front rendering a stunning late Adam Eckersley strike as nothing more than a consolation.
Regardless of tonight's result, Jack Ross and his team can be proud of the progress they have made in 2017. A side that were odds on favourites to be relegated to the third tier of Scottish football head into the new year sitting atop of the Championship and challenging for promotion to the Premiership. A win would strengthen that challenge as Saints would open up a five point gap at the top. For United, victory would see them move to first place a point ahead of Saints with a game in hand.
