St Mirren skipper Stephen McGinn says the Buddies are looking forward to being back at the Simple Digital Arena as they aim to bounce back from Saturday's disappointing 5-2 loss away to Hearts.
While Saints aren't in action this weekend due to the international break, they'll face two home games in the space of four days when Ross County and Hibernian visit Paisley in a little over a week's time.
And coming off the back of three away losses in a row, Stephen believes it will be a welcome relief being back at home where the Buddies have only lost one game and one goal all season.
It’ll be nice to be back home," Stephen told stmirren.com.
"Our away record is not good and it’s something we really need to address, but we like playing at home. We are good at home and with back-to-back home games coming up we need to put points together and good performances.
"Everyone in that dressing room is desperate to get Saturday out of our system.
"St Mirren Park always has to be a fortress and I feel it is always a hard place for teams to go to. It’s something we are proud of and something we want to continue. We don’t want Ross County to come down next week and enjoy coming to Paisley.
"We’ll approach it as we do every game and try to win the game. But there’s probably an added significance with the three losses we’ve just had away from home.
"It’s not nice when you look at the table and it’s not nice when people ask how you are doing and you have to tell them we are bottom of the league, but I don’t feel like we are the worst team in the league.
"We’ve got a game in hand, we’ve got games coming up thick and fast over the Christmas period and we want to try to put results together. If we can we’ll quickly find ourselves where we feel we should be."
The Buddies have been praised for a defensive record that, prior to Saturday's match against Hearts, was only bettered by first and second placed Celtic and Rangers.
Saints had only conceded 11 goals in their opening nine league matches, but were left shocked as they conceded five at Tynecastle on Saturday.
Stephen admits it was disappointing and the players have to prove it was a one-off.
We want to make sure that was just a blip and it won't ever happen again," he said.
"It was strange because at half-time we are well in the game and at times we were pretty comfortable at a difficult venue but we were losing 3-2. We have not lost goals like that all season so it was a bit of a shell-shocked dressing room at half-time.
"We have taken a lot of credit as a team for our defensive record and we are gutted to have lost so many goals, especially the manner of the goals. There were some really poor goals we lost, uncharacteristic goals.
"We lost the third and fourth goals at terrible times and ultimately it cost us the game.
"The one right before half-time we were really disappointed with and then 30 seconds into the second-half you are 4-2 down and the reaction after that wasn't great. It turned out to be a really disappointing day.
"We have to make sure it doesn’t happen again and react better. Goals are so hard to come by in this league that we can’t afford to give them away at the other end."
The captain admitted he can understand fans frustrations as the Buddies find themselves at the bottom of the league.
But he emphasised their importance and knows Saints can count on their backing.
The fans will stick with us," he said.
"If ever a group of fans were going to turn on a team it was last year and they didn’t. They stuck with us right to the end and we both got our rewards together.
"They were brilliant again on Saturday and they have been brilliant in my whole time at the club.
"I’ve no doubt that they will stick with us and when Ross County come to our place a week on Saturday the place will be rocking and they’ll get behind us like every other Saturday."
Saturday's match away to Hearts saw Stephen made his 198th appearance in the black and white of St Mirren.
The skipper says he's been aware of being close to the 200 mark and given his affinity for the club he's full of pride as he approaches the milestone.
It’s something I’m really proud of," he confessed.
"When I was a young player in the youth team here I was just dying to get one game and then you are dying to get two games so to get to 200 at this club means a lot to me and it will be great to finally hit that mark.
"The last two and a half years have been amazing," he continued.
"There have been low times but I have loved every minute since I have come back. People say don’t go back but I couldn’t disagree more. It’s a place I know well and it means a lot to me. Every win feels twice as good because it’s here and all the memories I am now wracking up here.
"On a personal level reaching 200 games for this club is something I’m really proud of."
Tickets for next weekend's match are on-sale at the St Mirren Ticket Office and online.
We are also giving clubs/groups the chance to attend our upcoming home matches against Ross County and Livingston at a reduced price.
Two adults and up to 20 under-12s can attend either match for just £24 or can take advantage of our special double offer to attend both matches for just £36.
