It's a 'Battle of Britain' for St Mirren this Sunday as the Buddies take on Welsh side The New Saints at The Paisley 2021 Stadium in the IRN-BRU Cup semi-final.
The last time the Paisley Saints were involved in a competitive battle of Britain was back in 1980 as the Buddies defeated Bristol City over two legs to claim glory in the Anglo-Scottish Cup.
The Buddies have seen off Albion Rovers, Hibernian and Ayr United to reach the last four, while our opposition has defeated Forfar and Livingston on their run to the semi-finals.
St Mirren's journey began back in September when the side came from 2-0 down to defeat Albion Rovers 4-3 after extra time. That set up a fourth round clash with Hibernian at Easter Road and whilst the Hibees were the favourites, the Buddies again came from behind to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Stephen Mallan and David Clarkson. And once again Saints did it the hard way in the quarter-finals as they fell behind to Ayr United before claiming victory courtesy of two late strikes from John Sutton - goals that earned him the IRN-BRU's player of the round.
The New Saints entered the competition at the fourth round stage and faced a long journey as they took on Forfar Athletic at Station Park in October. Greg Draper scored a hat-trick for the Welsh side, with two in the last 10 minutes, to help them see off the Loons. It was another trip to Scotland for TNS when they faced Livingston in the quarter-finals where they defeated the Lions emphatically, winning 3-0 at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
The Buddies form in cup competitions has been near flawless with the Saints prevailing in nine out of 10 ties in all cup competitions this season. The most recent coming last week away to East Fife, where Cammy Smith's first goal for St Mirren was added to by a double from Lewis Morgan to send the Buddies into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.
Meanwhile, the visitors have been breaking records this season after eclipsing Ajax's 44 year-old world record for consecutive matches won in top flight football. The Welsh side have only lost on two occasions all season. The first came against Cypriot side APOEL in Champions League qualifying back in July before their first league defeat of the season came last week at the hands of Carmarthen Town.
The New Saints will visit with two players familiar with Scottish football in the form of Jon Routledge, formerly of Hamilton Accies and Dumbarton, and Steven Saunders who also played for the Sons along with Ross County and Motherwell.
Sunday's match will be an intriguing tie as St Mirren face Welsh opposition for the first time in competitive football. With a final place at stake it's all to play for in the battle of the Saints.
