Alex Rae is hoping to have more depth in his squad ahead of Saturday’s game against Ayr United in the Ladbrokes Championship. The Saints head to Ayr searching for their first league win of the season and the manager’s options have been boosted with the return of injured players to training this week while some have gotten valuable game time under their belts.

Gary MacKenzie, Ben Gordon and Jordan Stewart all featured for the Under-20s as they defeated Rangers Under-20s 1-0 on Tuesday night, with Stewart scoring the only goal with a stunning free kick just after the hour mark.

Speaking to stmirren.com the manager said: “It’s important that we get Gary up to speed – he needs some minutes under his belt. He’s been working the last couple of weeks to try and get to this stage. We have young Jordan going to get some minutes and Ben Gordon as well, so we’re hopeful of getting these guys back sooner rather than later.”

The Saints were dealt a blow on Saturday in the loss to Hibernian when Lewis Morgan limped off at half time. The winger arrived for the team photo on Tuesday in crutches but the manager isn’t too worried about where he is at: “I think he’s a lot more freed up than he was in the previous 24 hours.

“He’s able to put a bit more weight on it and we’ll just assess it over the next couple of days,” he said. “Gavin [the physio] has got him in tomorrow just to see if it’s any better and we’re hoping that it’s progressing the way it has done in the last couple of days.

“It’s not ideal,” he continued. “The good thing about it is that he’s a brave kid, he’s physically strong and we’re hoping the pain alleviates itself over the next couple of days.”

There was encouraging news from the St Mirren Training Complex this week as Rocco Quinn returned to training following his injury against Livingston in the Betfred Cup last month. The midfielder was stretchered off near the end of the 3-2 win and the manager is taking it one step at a time with his return.

“This was his first day today. He was charging about in training – blowing out his backside – but it’s good to see him back out there. It’s just a case of Rocco getting more and more confident as the days go by because it was obviously a bad injury. He stepped up again today and we’re hopeful that come tomorrow he’ll be able to go again.”

When asked if he would be in line to make his first team return against Ayr United on Saturday, the gaffer said: “It’ll probably be too soon. We don’t want to rush him back and he has a relapse, so it’s important that we monitor how he is progressing and we’ll get the minutes in over the couple of days leading to the weekend but I think the weekend is definitely too soon.“

The manager admitted it was important to get players back from injury as soon as they are ready, to help give the team the opportunity to mix things up. He said: “We were conscious of the fact that we were going to go with a smaller squad this season because we wanted to try and get some better quality in and we’re hopeful that we can kick on"

“We need everyone up front and centre so that we have options to change things about because we’re a bit limited at the moment in terms of who we can bring on from the bench and the quicker we get these senior players up-to-speed the better it will be for us.”

St Mirren Football Club appreciate supporters’ frustration regarding the sale of the new home kit.

We have been, and continue to be, in daily contact with JD Sports regarding the launch date of the new home kit.

JD have advised us that they are trying to get retail stock in to go on sale this weekend.

We will update as the week progresses.

Saints suffered their second defeat in a row this afternoon as they lost at home to Hibs. Manager Alex Rae gives his thoughts. The Saints boss said:

“We’ve watched some footage of them [Hibs] in the last few weeks. One of the things when you play against them is their fullbacks get forward. We were conscious of that and one of the key things we were asking of our wider players and fullbacks was to stop the cross at source. Unfortunately we just don’t do that and when you give [David] Gray that time and space he’ll pick out players.

“I thought up until 20 minutes we were battling away and it was all right. The second goal you can’t legislate for. You can prepare all you want and it’s the second week on the bounce it’s happened, it’s about taking responsibility. When it’s 2-0 you’re chasing the game for more or less the rest of the time. You’re conscious of the fact you don’t want to get a doing, you want to work your way back into the game, and it just never came. The game just fizzled out.”

Saints lost Lewis Morgan to injury at half-time, which led to Ryan Hardie and then David Clarkson being played out wide due to a lack of options. Alex added:

“He just got two stitches in the top of his foot.”

Saints’ stuttering start to the season continued this afternoon as they were beaten at home by Hibs.

It was Jason Cummings who did the damage in the first half, the striker converting David Gray’s cross before taking advantage of a horrendous mix-up between Scott Gallacher and Jack Baird to grab his second. He had chances to complete his treble before the break as the visitors looked to kill the game off.

Often teams are made to pay for passing up such chances but today wasn’t one of those days. After a couple of openings were squandered, the game settled down until the final 10 minutes when there was a flurry of goalmouth action at both ends.

If you hadn’t known any better you’d have been forgiven for thinking it was a friendly. It took until six minutes from time for Saints to get a shot on target and had Hibs been put under any sustained pressure you got the feeling they would just have clicked up a few gears to deal with the problem.

Gallacher was back in goals at the expense of Jamie Langfield, one of three changes after the previous week’s defeat at Raith Rovers. John Sutton took over from Ryan Hardie up front and Tom Walsh replaced the injured Calum Gallagher. Hibs opted to leave new signings Andrew Shinnie and Brian Graham on the bench, Cummings starting up front with former Buddies John McGinn and Darren McGregor also in the team.

McGinn should have given the visitors the lead after 10 minutes. A cross from the left caused problems in the Saints defence and when the ball was cleared as far as David Gray he played it back in only for the unmarked McGinn to volley wide. Neil Lennon’s side were on top and it was little surprise they took the lead midway through the half. Lewis Morgan committed himself too early as he tried in vain to halt the progress of the rampaging Gray, the Hibs skipper getting to the byline before crossing for Cummings to slot home the opener.

For all that the visitors had seen plenty of the ball, they hadn’t exactly been creating a plethora of chances. However, Saints had enjoyed neither opportunities or possession, their first meaningful attempt on goal coming when Kyle Hutton intercepted a Hibs throw and teed up Stephen Mallan, who sent a 25-yard drive narrowly over the top corner of Ross Laidlaw’s goal. If that created some hope among the home fans, it wasn’t to last as their side was soon two goals down. Gallacher and Baird left a harmless ball to the other to deal with and Cummings didn’t need asking twice, immediately rushing in to mop up possession and squeeze a shot into the net from a tight angle.

The cautious optimism turned into vocal disgruntlement and there was no let up from Hibs, James Keatings not too far away with a hopeful 30 yard effort before Cummings was sent through only to shoot straight at Gallacher. The Saints defence was struggling to cope with the striker and another chance for the hat-trick arrived soon after, this time Gallacher saving it before reacting quickly to keep out Grant Holt’s follow-up effort. Brief respite came when Saints were awarded a free-kick but Mallan’s delivery was a little too deep and Andy Webster couldn’t get his header on target – much to the delight of the Hibs fans behind the goal. Their side resumed the hunt for a third and it almost arrived when Gray found McGinn at the edge of the box, the midfielder going close with a powerful effort.

Half-Time: St Mirren 0-2 Hibernian

Morgan, who’d been on the end of a hefty challenge early in the first half, failed to reappear after the break, Hardie replacing him. The young striker – who has scored in his last three games for Saints and Rangers under-20s – had a chance to make an instant impact as the ball dropped to him in the box, however he smashed his shot well off target. Hutton was first in the book for wrestling with Lewis Stevenson before Baird had a chance to partially redeem himself for earlier. Mallan’s free-kick was flicked on to the back post but the big defender couldn’t adjust himself quickly enough and he headed well over.

There was no cavalry charge to follow those chances, Hibs looking well in control without really threatening to add a third. Midway through the half Shinnie was handed his debut at the expense of Keatings with Saints putting David Clarkson on for Sutton, Jordan Stewart replacing Lawrence Shankland a few minutes later. Hibs responded with Graham being handed his first appearance in the fluorescent shirt when he came on for Holt.

Things got a bit more interesting in the final stages as the chances began to come. Shinnie went close to grabbing a debut goal when he shot just over from 20 yards or so before Saints finally managed a shot on target as Laidlaw held Clarkson’s effort. Shinnie again went close to scoring as he curled a shot over the bar but there was to be no hat-trick for Cummings, who was replaced by Martin Boyle for the final few minutes.

Mallan almost found the net with a spectacular free-kick that flashed just past the post before Stewart was booked for fouling Bartley. The free-kick almost provided Hibs with their third, Gallacher doing well to block Graham’s shot from close range. In the final seconds McGinn almost increased the misery on his old side as he rattled the bar with a howitzer, the ball dropping in front of the line before bouncing to safety.

Full-Time: St Mirren 0-2 Hibernian

St Mirren: Gallacher, Naismith, Irvine, Webster, Sutton (Clarkson 70), Shankland (Stewart 75), Mallan, Walsh, Hutton, Baird, Morgan (Hardie 46).
Subs Not Used: Whyte, Gordon, McDonald, Langfield (GK).

Hibernian: Laidlaw, Gray, Hanlon, Bartley, McGinn, Holt (Graham 76), McGeough, Stevenson, Keatings (Shinnie 68), McGregor, Cummings (Boyle 84).
Subs Not Used: Fyvie, Forster, Crane, Virtanen (GK).

Referee: Don Robertson.
Assistant Referee: Stuart Hodge.
Assistant Referee: Kevin McElhinney.

Attendance: 4,517

Match report and match gallery pictures by John Millar – © John Millar.

Hibernian come to Paisley tomorrow afternoon with a new manager in charge of the Leith side since their last visit to the Paisley 2021 Stadium last April. Neil Lennon took over at Easter Road after Alan Stubbs signed off shortly after winning the Scottish Cup to take up a new post south of the border with Rotherham United.

Lennon is no stranger to the game in Scotland having played with Celtic for seven years going on to eventually manage the Glasgow side from 2010 to 2014. The man from Northern Ireland hasn’t tweaked things too much from the side that won the Scottish Cup in May for the first time in 114 years but he brought in some competition up front by signing Rochdale striker Grant Holt and beefing up his goalkeeping corp by signing Ross Laidlaw from Raith Rovers and bringing in on loan Ofir Marciano from Israeli side FC Ashdod. Earlier this week Lennon added more new blood to his squad by signing former Inverness Caley Thistle midfielder Andrew Shinnie on loan from Birmingham City.

Lennon still has the bulk of the squad he inherited from Stubbs and all-in-all it is a group of really good quality. Up front they have one of the most lethal strikers in the Scottish game in the shape of Jason Cummings who has already bagged 3 goals this season to bring his tally up to 49 goals in 112 outings. There are also a couple of familiar faces in the Hibs ranks with former Buddies John McGinn and Darren McGregor who are both now plying their trade in Leith. Club Captain David Gray has impressed since signing for Hibs in 2014 and is joined by Liam Fontaine, Paul Hanlon, Lewis Stevenson and the aforementioned McGregor as the mainstays in defence.

In midfield Lennon has a fair bit of quality at his disposal with the likes of McGinn, Fraser Fyvie, Dyland McGeouch, Danny Handling, Alex Harris and Marvin Bartley. Up front Holt and Cummings have competition from Jamie Insall and James Keatings.

The side from Easter Road have got off to a good start this season, League Cup exit to Queen of the South aside, as they look to make up for their woes in losing to Falkirk in the promotion playoffs last season. It was an earlier than usual start to the season with a Europa League qualifier against Brondby that saw The Hibees go down 1-0 at Easter Road Stadium. The return tie in Denmark saw David Gray’s goal take the game to extra-time and then penalties but unfortunately Hibs lost out. The league season started in Falkirk where amends were made for that playoff loss with a 2-1 win courtesy of a brace from Cummings. The Leith side were rocked in the Betfred Cup going down 3-1 to Queen of the South before bouncing back with a 2-1 win against Dunfermline last weekend.

St Mirren’s early season form failed to improve last weekend at Kirkcaldy as they went down 3-1 to Raith Rovers. Saints were 3-0 down early in the second half and even though on-loan striker Ryan Hardie pulled a goal back it wasn’t enough to spark a comeback to take anything from the game.

Saints and Hibs met four times last season with the Edinburgh side coming out on top with two wins sandwiched in between two draws. The last meeting of last season on 2nd April was an entertaining outing. Jason Cummings gave the visitors the lead on 27 minutes but ten minutes before half-time Rocco Quinn scored to level the match up again. Lawrence Shankland gave Saints the lead early in the seocnd half but the Paisley side couldn’t hold on for the win as a last minute goal from Farid El Alagui forced a share of the spoils.

As a rule this match tends to be a pretty good contest and we should see a good healthy turnout as the fans look to be served up a good ninety minutes worth of action.

St Mirren in the Community are delighted to confirm the new timetable for the Community Football Centres that start on Monday 22nd August and run right through to June 2017.

For further information about Community Football Centres please call (0141) 889-2558 or e-mail communityadmin@stmirren.com

To download the timetable please click HERE.

We are giving fans the opportunity to vote for the man of the match and also put two lucky fans in with the chance of winning a £10 voucher for the Club Shop.

Every home game we’ll throw open the voting on the 60 minute mark for 20 minutes where votes can be cast on Facebook and Twitter. All you have to do is use the hashtag #SMFCMOM followed by the name of the player you are voting for, eg ‘#SMFCMOM MALLAN’.

With 10 minutes of the game remaining all the votes will be counted then Stadium Announcer Phil Clark will confirm the winning player over the tannoy system.

From all the fans who nominate the winning player one will be picked at random from the Facebook account and another from the Twitter account and they will each be awarded a £10 voucher for the Club Shop. The winners will be notified through the account they posted from.

So get yourself ready on the hour mark of Saturday’s game against Hibernian and get voting with #SMFCMOM.

We are giving fans the opportunity to vote for the man of the match and also put two lucky fans in with the chance of winning a £10 voucher for the Club Shop.

Every home game we’ll throw open the voting on the 60 minute mark for 20 minutes where votes can be cast on Facebook and Twitter. All you have to do is use the hashtag #SMFCMOM followed by the name of the player you are voting for, eg ‘#SMFCMOM MALLAN’.

With 10 minutes of the game remaining all the votes will be counted then Stadium Announcer Phil Clark will confirm the winning player over the tannoy system.

From all the fans who nominate the winning player one will be picked at random from the Facebook account and another from the Twitter account and they will each be awarded a £10 voucher for the Club Shop. The winners will be notified through the account they posted from.

So get yourself ready on the hour mark of Saturday’s game against Queen of the South and get voting with #SMFCMOM.

St Mirren v Hibernian
Ladbrokes Championship
Venue: Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley
Date: Saturday 20th August 2016
Kick-off: 3:00pm

If you are thinking about coming to the Paisley 2021 Stadium for the first time on Saturday please click HERE for all the info you will need to make sure your match day experience runs as smoothly as possible.

The match day officials for Saturday’s Ladbrokes Championship fixture against Neil Lennon’s Hibernian side are as follows:

Referee: Don Robertson.
Assistant Referee: Stuart Hodge.
Assistant Referee: Kevin McElhinney.

Match Details

The game kicks-off at 3:00pm.

Season Tickets ARE valid for this game.

Match is all ticket – tickets will be on sale (subject to availability) UNTIL KICK OFF.

On the match day St Mirren fans can purchase their tickets (subject to availability) at the St Mirren Ticket Office from 10:00am to kick-off time (3:00pm).

We also now have a Ticket Booth sited at the West Stand beside turnstiles T11-14 on a match day.  The Ticket Booth is only for the purchase of tickets (subject to availability) for the West Stand, and also the pick-up point for pre-ordered tickets for the West Stand.  The Ticket Booth will be open from 1:30pm to 3:00pm (kick-off).

The Hibernian fans can purchase their tickets (subject to availability) from the window at the away end of the ground (North Stand) from 1:30pm to kick-off time (3:00pm).

Tickets can also be purchased from the Online Ticket Shop.

The St Mirren Ticket Office (Main Stand) opening hours in the build up to this match are as follows:

Fri, Aug 19th – 10:00am – 2:00pm
Sat, Aug 20th – 10:00am – 3:00pm (kick-off)

The Ticket Booth (West Stand) opening hours in the build up to this match are as follows:

Sat, Aug 20th – 1:30pm to 3:00pm (kick-off)

Ticket Office Phone No: (0141) 840-6130.
St Mirren Ticket Office E-Mail: tickets@stmirren.com.

Please note that the Club Shop is also open the same hours as the Ticket Office.

Ticket Information

Visitor Information

St Mirren v Queen of the South
Ladbrokes Championship
Venue: Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley
Date: Saturday 10th September 2016
Kick-off: 3:00pm

The match day officials for Saturday’s Ladbrokes Championship fixture against Gavin Skelton’s Queen of the South side are as follows:

Referee: Barry Cook.
Assistant Referee: Jordan Stokoe.
Assistant Referee: Chris McTiernan

If you are thinking about coming to the Paisley 2021 Stadium for the first time on Saturday please click HERE for all the info you will need to make sure your match day experience runs as smoothly as possible.

Match Details

The game kicks-off at 3:00pm.

Season Tickets ARE valid for this game.

Match is all ticket – tickets will be on sale (subject to availability) UNTIL KICK OFF.

On the match day St Mirren fans can purchase their tickets (subject to availability) at the St Mirren Ticket Office from 10:00am to kick-off time (15:00).

We also now have a Ticket Booth sited at the West Stand beside turnstiles T11-14 on a match day.  The Ticket Booth is only for the purchase of tickets (subject to availability) for the West Stand, and also the pick-up point for pre-ordered tickets for the West Stand.  The Ticket Booth will be open from 13:30 to 15:00 (kick-off).

The QoS fans can purchase their tickets (subject to availability) from the window at the away end of the ground (North Stand) from 13:30 to kick-off time (15:00).

Tickets can also be purchased from the Online Ticket Shop.

The St Mirren Ticket Office (Main Stand) opening hours in the build up to this match are as follows:

Mon to Fri: 10:00 to 14:00
Sat 10:00 to 15:00

The Ticket Booth (West Stand) opening hours in the build up to this match are as follows:

Sat, Aug 20th – 13:30 to 15:00 (kick-off)

Ticket Office Phone No: (0141) 840-6130.
St Mirren Ticket Office E-Mail: tickets@stmirren.com.

Please note that the Club Shop is also open the same hours as the Ticket Office.

Ticket Information

Visitor Information