St Mirren make their final away trip of 2016 tomorrow when Jack Ross' side take on Dundee United at Tannadice in a 12:30pm kick off.
The Saints come into the Christmas Eve fixture having picked up seven points from a possible nine with wins over Queen of the South and Raith Rovers followed by draw with Ayr United at the Paisley 2021 Stadium. John Sutton was on target in his 100th appearance for The Buddies as he nodded home David Clarkson's cross in the 81st minute to take a share of the spoils in the 1-1 draw.
Dundee United are in a good run of form having now drawn themselves level on points with Hibernian at the top of the Ladbrokes Championship. The Arabs haven't lost a match in any competition since a League Cup loss in September - a run of 13 games unbeaten. Saints biggest challenge tomorrow will be attempting to breach a defence which hasn't conceded a goal in its last six matches stretching back to the start of November. Mostly recently though United were held to a 0-0 draw against Raith Rovers at Stark's Park.
The only meeting between the two this season came in October at the Paisley 2021 Stadium as Jack Ross took charge of the Saints for the first time. Despite putting in a good performance, it was the away side who ran out winners with goals from Scott Fraser and Tony Andreu securing a 2-0 win.
This is St Mirren's first trip to Tannadice since November 2014 where the home side ran out 3-0 winners. Saints last victory against United in Dundee came on 30 December 2012 as the Buddies came out on top in a pulsating 4-3 win. Goals from Paul Dummett, Steven Thompson, Marc McAusland and David Van Zanten sealing the win in the seven goal thriller to end the year on a high.
Saints will be without Ben Gordon, who is likely to be out for two-three months, and Jordan Stewart, though beyond that Jack Ross will have almost a full squad to call upon.
It may be the festive period but the hosts won't be in the mood for sending Saints home with a gift as they look to keep up the pressure on Hibernian in an attempt to displace them at the top of the tree. For St Mirren the aim remains to keep winning matches as the team look to gain ground on those sitting above in the league.
