St Mirren make the trip to Greenock this evening to face Renfrewshire rivals Morton in the Ladbrokes Championship.
Tonight's match, originally scheduled for Saturday 22 October, but postponed due to Morton's involvement in the Betfred Cup, will be the second time the two sides have squared off against each other this season following a 1-1 draw at the Paisley 2021 Stadium on the opening day of the season.
On that day, Morton held the lead for the majority of the game after Thomas O'Ware's early first half goal put the Ton ahead. It was better late than never for the Saints when John Sutton popped up to head home his first goal since returning to the Buddies in the summer with just seven minutes remaining to earn the draw.
Morton come into this evening's match on the back of some good form having won their last three matches in the Ladbrokes Championship - beating Ayr United, Queen of the South and Raith Rovers. It took two goals in the last 15 minutes or so of the Greenock side's game against Ayr United on Saturday for the Ton to grab victory having gone 1-0 down in the first half. Morton's home form is also strong, with Jim Duffy's side having not lost a match at Cappielow since a 1-0 loss to Raith Rovers in March 2016.
The feeling is that there has been an improvement in performances since Jack Ross took over as Saints manager several weeks ago. Unfortunately though, Saints have left matches against Dundee United and Hibernian empty handed.
Lawrence Shankland was the hero for the Buddies in the last trip to Cappielow at the beginning of 2016, with his first half header enough to take all three points, and the bragging rights, back to Paisley. It was the first derby win for either side in the 2015/16 season following draws at Cappielow and the Paisley 2021 Stadium in August and November respectively. Shankland was also on the scoresheet when the teams met towards the end of the season, with further goals from Calum Gallagher and Stephen Mallan securing a 3-1 win for St Mirren.
Should Jamie Langfield start in goal tonight for the Saints it will mark his 50th appearance for the team he supported as a boy. The goalkeeper will be looking to maintain his run of clean sheets at Cappielow having denied the home side a goal in both trips to Greenock last season. The 36 year-old was in inspired form in Saturday's loss to Hibernian as he saved a penalty from Grant Holt and made several other good saves.
As with all derby matches tonight will be hugely significant for both sides. A win for St Mirren would give Saints their first league win of the season and move them level on points with Dumbarton who come to the Paisley 2021 Stadium on Saturday. For Morton, a win would see them propel themselves above Falkirk in fifth and allow them a chance to sneak into the last play-off spot ahead of Queen of the South.
All the ticket information for tonight's game can be found here, whilst all travel club information is available at this link.
