St Mirren make the journey down to Palmerston Park tomorrow night as they face Queen of the South in a rearranged Ladbrokes Championship fixture. The original match, scheduled for 12th November, was postponed due to both teams involvement in the IRN-BRU Cup quarter finals.
Saints come into tomorrow's game on the back of a 3-1 loss to Falkirk at the Falkirk Stadium on Saturday. The Buddies took the lead early on in the game when Lewis Morgan rocketed home a shot from a John Sutton knock down. The away side looked comfortable before defender Jack Baird was sent off before half time following an altercation with Falkirk's Lee Miller.
It was Miller who got the home side level just after the break before goals from Bob McHugh and Myles Hippolyte sealed the win for the Bairns. It was a frustrating result for Saints but the team performed well throughout and on another day it could've been so different.
Queen of the South will be looking for their first league win since a 3-1 home victory over Raith Rovers in September. The Doonhamers started the season off in great form but since that win, which put them top of the league, they have only drawn two of their following eight league matches. Most recently they lost 2-1 to Dumbarton in the Ladbrokes Championship on Saturday. Derek Lyle scored an 80th minute goal for Queens to pull them back into the game, but it wasn't enough to steal a late draw.
The two teams have met once this season with Queen of the South leaving Paisley with all three points as they saw St Mirren off with a 3-1 win. Experienced striker Lyle put Queens ahead before loanee Tom Walsh grabbed an equaliser with a spectacular effort. Lyle scored against just before half time before a second half goal from Stephen Dobbie clinched victory for the away side.
Saints had a better record against the Dumfries side last season winning three of the four meetings between the two clubs. The Buddies picked up their first league win of the 2015/16 season at Palmerston as goals from Sean Kelly and Steven Thompson sealed a 2-0 win at the start of September 2015.
The next meeting didn't take place until February 2016 with a Stevie Mallan free kick enough to give Saints the win. Just a week later the two teams met again in league action at Palmerston with the home side picking up a 1-0 win that time. The final clash came in March at the Paisley 2021 Stadium where Mallan was on the scoresheet once again to open the scoring before a Callum Tapping own goal secured a big three points for the Saints.
Queens will be looking for the clichéd new manager bounce as Gary Naysmith takes charge of the Doonhamers for the first time. The ex-Scotland International has become the club's new permanent manager, joining from East Fife, and officially begins his duties just in time for tomorrow's match.
For Saints, they know it's important to start putting points on the board with ninth place Dunfermline sitting nine points above the Saints. Improved performances under Jack Ross haven't yet translated to points and the manager will be keen to get these two married together as quickly as possible.
