St Mirren are back in action at the Simple Digital Arena on Saturday for the first time in over a month as we play host to Ross County.
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St Mirren - LLLWLD
Ross County - LDLDLD
St Mirren return from the last international break of 2019 to face Ross County in our first home match since beating St Johnstone 2-0 on October 19th.
Jon Obika and Danny Mullen scored their first league goals of the season as the Buddies came out on top in the battle of the Saints last month.
Since then, the Buddies have faced three away trips - losing to Kilmarnock (0-1), Celtic (0-2) and Hearts (2-5).
While the away form has been a source of frustration for Saints, the home form has been good this season with two wins, two draws and one defeat from our first five home league matches of the season.
Indeed, the Buddies have only lost two home league matches since the end of March - 2-0 to Celtic in April and 1-0 to Rangers in August.
Ross County come into tomorrow's match in sixth place in the league with 14 points, but Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson's side have failed to win in their last seven matches.
The last time the Staggies took three points was during a trip to Motherwell in September where goals from Brian Graham and Ross Stewart saw them win 2-1 at Fir Park.
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An injury time goal from Marcus Fraser gave Ross County all three points when both sides met in Dingwall in the Ladbrokes Premiership in September.
It was a frustrating and controversial afternoon for Saints who had a Jon Obika goal ruled out for offside in the first half despite replays showing the striker was onside.
Tony Andreu's first St Mirren goal had gotten the Buddies level after ex-Saint Ross Stewart had given the Staggies a second-half lead. But with the last kick of the match County captain Fraser ensured the points stayed in Dingwall.
County were also victorious the last time they visited Paisley - in April 2015 - with Liam Boyce's hat-trick giving them a vital 3-0 win as they went on to escape relegation.
Saints have won in two of their last three visits to Dingwall, but the last home win over County was in May 2014 when Gregg Wylde's goal saw the Buddies win 1-0.
The Buddies have taken on Ross County 17 times at home since their first meeting at the turn of the century. In those 17 matches, Saints have defeated the Highland side nine times, drawn five and lost just three.
TEAM NEWS
Cody Cooke is back fit after a long-spell on the sideline and could be named in the squad while Kyle McAllister is also in contention after missing Saints' last five league matches.
Kirk Broadfoot will miss out after injuring his foot in the Buddies loss to Hearts before the international break.
"I played against County last year in the Championship with Alloa. They were building a team that was going to be capable of competing in the Premiership so it hasn't surprised me the points they have picked up.
"They have some very good attacking players with good experience in there. Billy McKay is proven at this level, so is Michael Gardyne and Ross Stewart has taken a lot of plaudits as well.
"We have to be at it defensively and if we are not those players can hurt you. But we believe that we have got players up the other end that can cause Ross County problems and hopefully that will make for an entertaining game."
