St Mirren return to Scottish Premiership action this weekend as Jim Goodwin's men host Motherwell on Saturday.

The Buddies picked up five points from our opening two Betfred Cup matches - defeating Partick Thistle 4-1 at St Mirren Park, before coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Queen of the South at Palmerston and taking a bonus point on penalties. 

Motherwell haven't been in action since a 5-1 defeat at home against Rangers at the end of September.

Stephen Robinson's side, who aren't involved in the Betfred Cup group stages due to their qualification for Europe, were due to play Kilmarnock at the start of the month, but that match was postponed by the SPFL after the Kilmarnock squad had to self-isolate. 

Match Details

St Mirren v Motherwell
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Saturday 17th October
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: St Mirren Park

Can I watch the match?

The match is available to all season ticket holders and international subscribers on St Mirren TV.

Non-season ticket holders and Motherwell supporters will be able to watch the match on PPV for £12.50 on ppv.stmirren.com. 

Mark Yardley will join match day host Ali De Foy at pre-match, half-time and post-match with David Van Zanten on co-commentary. 

Live coverage starts from 2:45pm. 

Previous

Saints faced the Steelmen five times last season - winning twice, drawing once and losing twice. 

The last meeting saw Ilkay Durmus score a late winner at Fir Park as St Mirren won 2-1 at Fir Park in February. 

The two sides couldn't be separated when Motherwell last visited Paisley, also in February, in Scottish Cup action. Mark O'Hara scored the opener for the Steelmen before Alex Jakubiak levelled in the second-half. 

Manager's thoughts

"We have to try and approach the game the same way we did the Aberdeen game, obviously with a different outcome.

"If we can take seven points or nine points from the next three games that could really catapult us up the table."

Who are the officials?

Bobby Madden is the referee on Saturday. He is assisted by Calum Spence and Gary Hilland. David Lowe is the fourth official. 

Saints fought back from a disastrous start at Palmerston to draw with Queen of the South before picking up a bonus point in the penalty shoot-out.

Queens stunned the Buddies with two goals inside the first 15 minutes, Connor Shields opening the scoring before Aidan Fitzpatrick finished well after a great passing move cut open the visiting defence.

Jamie McGrath halved the gap early in the second half when his free-kick found the net without appearing to touch anyone. There was plenty of time to find an equaliser but it didn't look as if it would come until, in the final minute, Marcus Fraser headed in his first Buddies goal to force a penalty shoot-out.

The lack of fans meant a lot of the normal drama and tension was missing but Queens were always up against it after missing their first two spot-kicks, Saints converting all of theirs to pick up the extra point.

Saints may have beaten Partick Thistle during the week but that didn't stop manager Jim Goodwin making three changes, Sam Foley, Kyle McAllister and Ilkay Durmus being handed starts at the expense of Jon Obika, Junior Morias and Cammy MacPherson, who were on the bench. The ever-dangerous Stephen Dobbie led the home attack with former Saint Gregor Buchanan in the defence.

Dobbie went close to opening the scoring after just five minutes, drawing a good save from Jak Alnwick after he connected well with Shields' cutback. However, the warning wasn't heeded and moments later Shields nicked the ball from Richard Tait midway inside the Saints half and he powered forward before thumping the ball across Alnwick into the far corner to put Queens in front.

The bad start got even worse five minutes later. McGrath lost possession to Fitzpatrick and some a few slick passes put the on-loan Norwich man through on goal, Alnwick having no chance as the winger fired past him.

Saints had found themselves in this sort of position at Palmerston just before Christmas in 2017 and went on to win, however a similar fightback looked pretty unlikely at this stage. They did begin to enjoy some more possession but did little with it and Queens goalie Rohan Ferguson wasn't unduly troubled. Indeed, the Doonhamers could have moved even further ahead when Ayo Obileye was left unmarked at Joe McKee's corner but he headed wide.

Saints finally threatened in the final 10 minutes of the half. McAllister was desperately unlucky to see his fantastic free-kick rattle the post, Ferguson producing a good save to tip Fraser's follow up header over the bar. Another chance came from the corner, the unmarked Sam Foley failing to find the target with his header.

Obika replaced Nathan Sheron at the break but things almost got worse for Saints when Foley was short with his backpass, Alnwick booting the ball then Dobbie as he bailed his skipper out of trouble. The Buddies made the most of that let-off by reducing the deficit within seconds, McGrath floating a free-kick into the box that sailed into the net after seeming to be missed by everyone.

Dobbie dragged a shot wide as he tried to restore the hosts' two goal advantage before Saints almost drew themselves level, Ferguson producing a great save to keep out Joe Shaughnessy's header. The Buddies looked a much improved side as they looked to get themselves back on level terms, however were almost back to square one when Shields was left in too much space on the left and he found Fitzpatrick, whose shot was blocked by the legs of Tait. The defender showed he could be effective at the other end too when he prodded a corner towards goal, one of his team-mates unintentionally helping it over the bar with Ferguson beaten.

The next goal was going to be crucial, Fitzpatrick shooting wide from close range and Euan East seeing his shot deflected behind after he took advantage of a Fraser slip. The corner provided more problems, Dobbie's shot being blocked on the line before Alnwick saved from James Maxwell. Another chance came Dobbie's way a few minutes later but it was a tight angle and he volleyed wide.

The brief flurry of chances after McGrath's goal proved to be a false dawn, although the Irishman had a penalty shout turned down when his shot appeared to hit the arm of a Queens defender. As the clock ticked down, it seemed the well-organised home defence would hold out but with just seconds remaining, Ethan Erhahon produced a wonderful cross that found Fraser and he looped a header over Ferguson to bring the Buddies level.

With penalties looming, Saints almost snatched a winner deep into stoppage time, Cammy MacPherson drawing a fine save from Ferguson after being set-up by fellow sub Junior Morias. With a draw earning both sides a point, it was on to the shoot-out and this time it was Queens who started poorly as they missed their first two penalties, the next six being converted to give the Buddies an extra point.

Full-Time: Queen of the South 2-2 St Mirren (St Mirren win 4-2 on penalties)

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, Sheron (Obika 45), Shaughnessy, Tait, McAllister (Connolly 60), Foley, McGrath, Erhahon, Durmus (MacPherson 71), Erwin (Morias 60)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Urminsky, Jamieson

Queen of the South: Ferguson, Maxwell, Buchanan, Obileye, McKee, Fitzpatrick, Pybus, Shields, Dobbie (McGrory 88), East (Goss 85), Gibson
Subs Not Used: Leighfield, Nortey, McCabe, Robinson, Joseph, McKechnie, Sylla

Referee: William Collum
Assistant Referee: Graeme Stewart
Assistant Referee: Graham McNeillie

Picture courtesy of David Henderson.

St Mirren head to Dumfries on Saturday afternoon to face Queen of the South in Group G of the Betfred Cup.

Jim Goodwin's side got their cup campaign up and running on Wednesday night with a 4-1 win over Partick Thistle at St Mirren Park.

Richard Tait, Jon Obika and Dylan Connolly all scored as Saints ended a run of six defeats in a row and picked up three points on match one.

Queen of the South played their first competitive match since March on Tuesday night when they faced Greenock Morton in their Betfred Cup opener. The Doonhamers came from behind twice at Cappielow to earn a 2-2 draw before picking up the bonus point in the penalty shoot-out. 

Match Details

Queen of the South v St Mirren
Competition: Betfred Cup
Date: Saturday 10th October
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: Palmerston Park

Can I watch the match?

The match will be available to St Mirren supporters on PPV for £10. More details on how to purchase are available on the Queen of the South website.

Season ticket holders and international subscribers to St Mirren TV will only be able to access live audio commentary of the match from 2:50pm.

Previous

Saturday's match will be the first time St Mirren and Queen of the South have faced since St Mirren's promotion to the Scottish Premiership in 2018.

The Buddies faced Queen of the South four times in the 2017/18 on their way to winning the Championship and came out on top on all four occasions. 

Indeed, Saints have won on their four previous trips to Palmerston spanning the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons - winning 3-2 & 2-0 in 2016/17 and 3-2 & 3-1 in 2017/18. 

Manager's thoughts

"There have been some upsets already in the cup and it was no surprise that Partick made it as difficult for us the other night as they did. We expect no different from Queen of the South. 

"I watched Queen of the South's game against Morton during the week. I thought a draw was probably a fair result given the way the game went. Queen of the South have some players in their ranks that can cause you problems with Stephen Dobbie being the main one.

"It's going to be a difficult game and we will have to approach it in the right manner and be professional. It would be nice to go and win again tomorrow and take some confidence into some big league games coming up."

Team news

Jim Goodwin says he has no injury concerns from the team that played on Wednesday night and confirmed that he hopes to have Kristian Dennis and Ryan Flynn back involved with the squad in the next week to 10 days.

Who are the officials?

William Collum is the man in the middle on Saturday. He is assisted by Graeme Stewart and Graham McNeillie. 

St Mirren stuck four goals past Partick Thistle to get off to a winning start in Group G of the Betfred Cup.

Richard Tait's diving header bang on half-time gave Saints the lead at the interval. But Jim Goodwin's men were pegged back on 65 minutes when Partick substitute Blair Spittal levelled. 

Jon Obika got Saints back in front with 15 minutes remaining before two goals in a minute from Joe Shaughnessy and Dylan Connelly sealed a 4-1 win for the Buddies.

Saints had the first real opportunity in the opening minutes with Lee Erwin having an effort held by Partick goalkeeper Jamie Sneddon. But the League One side were certainly up for making a game of it and had two terrific chances to take the lead inside the first 15 minutes. First, Shea Gordon managed to race clear of the St Mirren defence but was denied by Jak Alnwick who got strong hands to the shot to push away. Then, on 15 minutes, Marcus Fraser made a wonderful last-gasp clearance on the line to stop Brian Graham making it 1-0 after the Thistle forward had gotten his shot away underneath Alnwick. Indeed, Graham was convinced the effort had crossed the line but TV replays showed Fraser had just scrambled clear.

With 10 minutes of the half remaining Thistle went close twice in the space of a minute with an excellent recovery challenge from Tait blocking Gordon. From the resultant corner Brian Graham's header had to be cleared off the line by Ethan Erhahon. 

Half-time was approaching and it looked poised to be stalemate at the break, but Saints grabbed a goal with the final action of the half when Tait got low to head home a Jamie McGrath corner. 

The game was still finely balanced into the second-half and Thistle should have been level on the hour mark when Conor Murray was found in acres of space inside the Buddies box. But the forward nodded his header weakly into the arms of Alnwick. 

Four minutes later Saints could have scored a second and wrapped up the win when McGrath had beaten Sneddon from edge of the box but his effort cracked off the post. And how quickly a game can turn as Partick found an equaliser less than 60 seconds later. Blair Spittal, who had just signed for Partick on loan earlier in the afternoon knocked home from inside the box to level.

The Buddies would, however, find themselves back ahead 10 minutes later when substitute Kyle McAllister threaded a lovely ball through for Jon Obika. The forward beat the defender and slid home from close range to score his 15th goal for Saints.

With less than 10 minutes remaining, Saints added a third to secure the win. Joe Shaughnessy looked to have got the final touch before Rhys Breen's touch took it over the line. And then, almost instantly, the shine was put on the win as Dylan Connolly slammed home a neat effort from just inside the box to round-off a solid win for Jim Goodwin's side. 

Full-Time: St Mirren 4-1 Partick Thistle

St Mirren: Alnwick, Tait, Shaughnessy, Fraser, Morias (McAllister 59), MacPherson (Foley 77), Sheron (Connolly 59), Erhahon, McGrath, Obika (Jamieson 84), Erwin (Durmus 77)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Urminsky

Partick Thistle: Sneddon, Williamson (McKenna 75), Penrice, Brownlie, Cardle (Spittal 61), Bannigan, Graham (Kouider-Aissa 84), Gordon, Breen, Murray (Lyons 75), Docherty (c)
Subs Not Used: Scullion, Rudden, Reilly, Niang, Rodden

Referee: Colin Steven
Assistant Referee: Paul O'Neill
Assistant Referee: Kevin McElhinney

JIM GOODWIN REACTION 

Saints are back in action this Wednesday evening as we host League One side Partick Thistle at St Mirren Park for the first of our Group G fixtures in the BetFred Cup.

We have a limited edition run of programmes, published in partnership with Curtis Sport, for the behind closed doors cup tie played on Wednesday 7th October.

This issue is a 32 pager with a £3 cover price.

This latest edition includes the following:

Front Cover – Conor McCarthy.
Jim Goodwin - The Saints gaffer looks back on recent outings and ahead to Wednesday's BetFred Cup tie against the Jags.
The Opposition – Running the rule over Ian McCall's Partick Thistle side.
Game Rewind Gallery – A pictorial look back to the game between Saints and the Jags on 9th November 2013.
St Mirren Programme Archive - Derek Drennan reviews programmes from previous League Cup match-ups between St Mirren and Partick Thistle.
Centre Page Poster – Ethan Erhahon.
Player Kit Sponsors 2020/21 – Check in to see who is sponsoring your favourite player's shirt for the season.
Marketing Matters – Campbell Kennedy updates on the latest events and happenings at the club's Commercial Department.
Yesterday's Saints – David Cochran looks back on the St Mirren career of Mark Fulton.
Football Bloody Hell - Alan Gallacher tries to work out what now qualifies as a handball in football, especially in the penalty-area.
St Mirren Fixtures & Results 2020/21 – A handy reference page of all the fixtures and results for this season.
Team Lines – The two squads and match officials for Wednesday's match.

To buy this issue or to place your programme subscription for the 2020/21 season click HERE.

St Mirren take on Partick Thistle in the Betfred Cup on Wednesday night with the match exclusively live on St Mirren TV.

St Mirren season ticket holders will be able to watch the match for free on tv.stmirren.com as a thank you for the ongoing support.

Coverage of tomorrow’s match will feature our usual pre-match show with Ali de Foy, starting at 7:30pm. Ali will be joined by a special guest and our commentary team will be joined by ex-St Mirren and Partick Thistle defender Tommy Turner.

Non-season ticket holders and Partick Thistle fans who wish to watch the match can do so on ppv.stmirren.com for just £10.

St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Brandon Mason on loan from Coventry City subject to clearance.

Brandon joins until the end of the season with Coventry retaining the option to recall the defender in January. 

The 23 year-old becomes our second deadline day signing after the club announced Daniel Finlayson earlier this evening. 

A graduate of the Watford youth academy, Brandon played twice for the Hornets in the English Premier League before joining Dundee United on loan.

After leaving Watford in 2018, Brandon joined Coventry City where he has made 46 appearances - 17 of which came last season as the Sky Blues secured promotion to the English Championship.

St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Daniel Finlayson on a season-long loan from Rangers FC with an option to buy at the end of the season for an undisclosed fee subject to clearance.

Capped by Northern Ireland at U19 level, the 19-year-old defender joins Jim Goodwin’s side after ending his loan spell at USL Championship side Orange County SC.

St Mirren Football Club firmly believes in carrying out business in the correct manner and keeping fans accurately informed, as such the club can confirm that it has today reluctantly agreed a deal with Hibernian Football Club for the transfer of Kyle Magennis.

The club had been working for over a year on a new deal for Kyle and offered him a new four-year deal on improved terms, however, it became increasingly clear that Kyle saw his future away from St Mirren.

After the initial approaches from Hibernian were rejected, Kyle made it clear to the club his desire to move. With this in mind the club made the difficult decision to accept an improved offer and allow Kyle to make the move.

The club shares the disappointment that the fans and all connected with St Mirren will be feeling with this news.

The club would like to place on record its thanks to Kyle for all the contributions he made in his time at St Mirren and wish him the very best for his future.

St Mirren were cruelly defeated by Aberdeen as Lewis Ferguson's injury time effort sealed a 2-1 win for the Dons.

Ethan Erhahon's first league goal had given Saints the lead before Marley Watkins levelled for the home side. With time ebbing away Ferguson netted in injury time from just outside the box to win it for Aberdeen.

Marley Watkins raced through and managed to shrug off Conor McCarthy. He found himself at the byline but his attempted cut-back was blocked by Jak Alnwick before McCarthy got clear. 

Alnwick was called into action again four minutes later when he made a good save to deny Scott Wright from the edge of the area. Niall McGinn was on to the follow-up but McCarthy put his body on the line to block what looked likely to be the opener. 

Alnwick was busy again as the Saints goalkeeper got down well to push away Lewis Ferguson's powerful 20 yard drive on 18 minutes. 

Saints were well in the match and went close twice in the space of a minute on the half-hour mark. Lee Erwin sent Jon Obika on his way with a flick on from Alnwick's goal kick. The forward held of the Dons defence to go through but Aberdeen's Tommie Hoban did well to block Obika's effort and send it wide. Then, moments later, a Cammy MacPherson strike was deflected just over Joe Lewis' cross bar.

Erwin was causing Aberdeen problems and went close himself on 37 minutes when he was found in space at the back post. The striker met the ball but his effort, from a tight angle, was held by Lewis.

Jim Goodwin would have been asking for more of the same at the break and Saints' positive performance was met by a goal nine minutes into the second-half. St Mirren Youth Academy graduate Ethan Erhahon scored his first league goal for Saints with an unbelievable strike from distance. The 19 year-old met MacPherson's touch and rattled it into the top corner from 22 yards with Lewis rooted to the spot. 

It was no less than Saints deserved with Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes making changes by bringing on Connor McLennan and Ryan Edmondson for Scott Wright and Niall McGinn. The changes seemed to spark the Dons into life and they levelled with less than 20 minutes to go when Marley Watkins drove home from just inside the box after a near bit of play from the home side.

Saints looked like they were about to earn a well-deserved point but Ferguson's injury time effort cruelly snuck beyond Alnwick to give Aberdeen all three points.

Full-Time: Aberdeen 2-1 St Mirren

St Mirren: Alnwick, Shaughnessy (c), McCarthy, Sheron, Obika, MacPherson, McGrath, Morias, Fraser, Erwin, Erhahon
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Jamieson, Durmus, McAllister

Aberdeen: Lewis, Hoban, Considine, McGinn (Edmondson 63), Hedges (McGeouch 90), Taylor (Anderson 87), Hayes, Ferguson, Wright (McLennan 63), McCrorie, Watkins
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Logan, Ojo, McGeouch, Hernandez, MacKenzie

Referee: Gavin Duncan
Assistant Referee: Graeme Leslie
Assistant Referee: Graham Chambers
Fourth Official: Alan Muir