It has been confirmed this afternoon that central defender Ben Gordon has gone out on loan to League One side Alloa Athletic until January.

Ben signed for St Mirren for the second time in his career this summer from Livingston and made his debut in the black and white stripes in last weekend’s Ladbrokes Championship match against Queen of the South.

Ben will join the Alloa squad for tomorrow’s match against Queen’s Park.

St Mirren head over the Erskine Bridge tomorrow afternoon for a Ladbrokes Championship match, going head to head with Dumbarton as Saints look to get a win to kick-start their league campaign.

Stevie Aitken’s men from ‘The Rock’ have also had an indifferent start to the season and like Saints are still trying to find their feet in season 2016/17. When Ian Murray moved over to manage St Mirren in May 2015, Aitken took over as manager at Dumbarton and last season he steered The Sons to safety as they held on to eighth place in the Championship.

Aitken made several changes in his squad over the summer as he looked to build a side to continue their stay in the Championship and his recruitment drive has seen him bringing in players who not too long ago were making their mark in Scotland’s top tier. The head turning signing must be that of former Hearts man Ryan Stevenson who was released by Partick Thistle over the summer. The attacking midfielder is no stranger to matches against St Mirren, scoring in his last outing against the Buddies for Thistle in May 2015. Sam Stanton has been brought in on loan from Hibernian, the 22-year-old made his debut in the IRN-BRU Cup loss to Stranraer two weeks ago but sat out last week’s Championship match due to it being against his parent club.

One man St Mirren will be well aware of tomorrow is Garry Fleming. While to date the striker has only scored one goal this season he banged in three against Saints last season, all of them turning out to be match winners. The man leading the goal scoring stakes for The Sons is former St Mirren player Mark Docherty who has bagged three already this term.

After a disappointing Betfred Cup campaign at the start of the season, a 4-3 loss to Dunfermline opened the league season for Dumbarton. The following week a few eyebrows were raised as The Sons won 1-0 against Dundee United then they drew 1-1 the following week against close neighbours Morton at Cappielow. A narrow 1-0 loss against Falkirk was followed by a disappointing exit from the IRN-BRU Cup against Stranraer. Last week it took a Jason Cummings' penalty for The Sons to lose to Hibernian.

St Mirren’s slow start to the season continued last Saturday as they went down 3-1 to Queen of the South at The Paisley 2021 Stadium. Derek Lyle gave the Doonhamers an early lead then Tom Walsh pulled Saints level with an overhead kick just before half-time but the visitors still went into the break a goal up as Lyle added another to his tally. The game was all but sealed ten minutes into the second half when Stephen Dobbie scored his seventh goal of the season.

Saints had a tough time of it against Dumbarton last season with The Sons winning three of the league match-ups between the sides. After Saints suffered a 2-1 loss last August in Paisley they headed over the Erksine Bridge just before Christmas where a Garry Fleming goal put an end to Ian Murray’s reign as St Mirren manager. Under Alex Rae Saints won the next outing between the sides when Lawrence Shankland’s second half strike proved to be the difference maker. The last meeting between Saints and The Sons saw an own goal from Keith Watson and a strike from Garry Fleming cancel out Calum Gallagher’s early opener for Saints at The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium.

Saints loss to Queen of the South last week saw them drop to bottom spot in the Championship but they are only two points behind sixth placed Dumbarton so there is still everything to play for in tomorrow’s match-up under the Dumbarton Rock where both sides will be looking to get their season into gear.

The St Mirren Under-20 side will be looking to get back on the winning trail again next week when they head north-east to face their counterparts from Dundee United.

The SPFL Development League fixture between the young Buddies and Terrors on Monday, 19th September will take place at Tannadice Park and it will kick-off at 6:00pm.

For more news on the SPFL Development League click here.

This coming Saturday (17th September), St Mirren head to the Dumbarton Rock to face Dumbarton in a Ladbrokes Championship fixture at The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium.

The info on Travel Clubs heading over the Erskine Bridge for the game is as follows:

Cockles Wilson Supporters Bus

We will be leaving at 1:45pm for Dumbarton.

Bus tickets are on sale in The Bankhouse.

Tile Bar Supporters Bus

The Tile Bar bus for Dumbarton will leave Abercorn Street at 1:45pm.

Bus seat tickets are on sale from behind the bar.

North End Travel Club

The bus to Dumbarton will leave the Sneddon at 1:45pm.

Bus tickets available in the Brewers Tap, £5 each.

Chivas Travel Club

The bus will leave the Court Bar at 2:00pm for the game at Dumbarton.

Bus tickets are now on sale from behind the bar.

Additional Information for Travelling Fans

Tomorrow, Saturday 17th September, St.Mirren head over the Erskine Bridge to face Dumbarton in a Ladbrokes Championship match-up.

The gate prices have now been confirmed for the fixture at The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium and these are shown above.

The referee tomorrow is Stephen Finnie and he will be assisted by Dougie Potter and Graham Fraser.

For directions to The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium click here

Would all fans going to the game at Dumbarton on Saturday 17th September please take note of the statement below by Scotland TranServ in relation to works which start on Erskine Bridge on 17th September that will create an expected increase in the travel time for those using the bridge

A898 Erskine Bridge
Installation of tower aircraft navigation lighting

As part of a £3.25m investment by Transport Scotland to upgrade lighting on the A898 at Erskine Bridge, weekend works at the top of the two Bridge towers will commence on Saturday 17 September.

Principal Contractor, Lightways will access the towers to replace the existing aircraft navigation lamps with new LED lights. Operatives will be working at heights of 40 metres above the bridge deck therefore to protect both the workforce and road users, offside lane closures will be required in both directions on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 September and again on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September 2016. Traffic management will be in operation from 6.00am to 6.00pm each day.

It is expected that journey times will increase by approximately 45 minutes and road users are advised to plan ahead using Traffic Scotland’s WEBSITE and TWITTER feed for real time traffic information.

Scotland TranServ is currently overseeing the 28 week programme which will result in up to 70% in energy savings for Transport Scotland.

Operating company representative for Scotland TranServ, Andy Fraser said:

“We have considered all the available options for carrying out this work and the safest way for the contractor to access the towers and install the new lighting is during daylight hours under offside lane closures.

“Delays are expected to be around 45 minutes therefore we would urge road users to plan ahead and leave plenty of time for their journeys.”

The cycle and pedestrian lanes on the eastbound side of the Bridge will remain closed during the works with the westbound side operating as normal.

Academy player Ethan Erhahon has been named in the Scotland Under-16 squad for an international challenge match against France later this month.

The 15-year-old midfielder will join the rest of the young Scots for the match that takes place at Oriam, the new Sports Performance Centre, on Tuesday 27th September.

The match details and full squad are as follows:

Vauxhall Under-16 International Challenge Match
Scotland v France
Thursday, 27th September 2016, kick-off 7.30pm
Oriam, Edinburgh

Scotland Under-16 Squad:

Goalkeepers

Ryan Mullen (Celtic)
Archie Mair (Aberdeen)

Defenders

Taylor Wilson (Hamilton)
Andrew Kerr (Celtic)
Nathan Patterson (Rangers)
Chris Hamilton (Hearts)
Kane O’Connor (Hibernian)

Midfielders

Marc Leonard (Hearts)
Harry Cochrane (Hearts)
Terry Taylor (Aberdeen)
Dean Campbell (Aberdeen)
Ethan Erhahon (St Mirren)
Billy Gilmour (Rangers)

Forwards

Kieran McGrath (Celtic)
Zac Butterworth (Rangers)
Jamie Semple (Motherwell)
Anthony McDonald (Hearts)
Joshua McPake (Rangers)

Our next home match is on Saturday 1sth October 2016 when Falkirk come to visit in the SPFL Ladbrokes Championship.

Corporate Hospitality bookings can be made for this Category C match with prices from as little as £70 per person (season ticket holders - £85 for non season ticket holders) for an inclusive drinks package, a three course meail, half time tea and snacks and an executive seat in the main stand for the match.

To find out more or to book your place please click here

The Under-20 side's 100% start to the season was brought to an end on Tuesday evening as they went down 2-1 to Hibernian at the Paisley 2021 Stadium in a SPFL Development League match-up.

The Leith side were one-up at half-time but it looked as if Saints had saved a point with a late equaliser from Lawrence Shankland but an injury time goal from Hibs saw Saints suffer their first defeat of the new season.

Match report pictures © John Millar.

Good news St Mirren fans - Topps Match Attax all-new SPFL 2016-17 collection lands in shops today!

Buddies of all ages can get involved in this year’s collection, which features all-new card types and all your favourite St Mirren players.

Available now, Topps Match Attax, the world’s most successful football trading card game, offers fans of all ages a fun-filled addition to the new SPFL season. Featuring all of Scotland’s Premiership and Championship clubs, there are over 300 cards to collect including ‘star players’, ‘rising stars’, ‘top-rated man of the match’, ‘awesome penalty takers’ plus 100 club cards.

This year’s collection also boasts more limited edition cards than ever before, and a guaranteed shiny card in every pack!

“SPFL Match Attax is continuing to grow in popularity year on year, and our latest SPFL edition trading card game promises to be a huge hit with our collectors,” said Steve Conner, National Sales Manager at Topps.

“The new collection is bigger and better than before, with even more new cards to collect, giving fans the opportunity to play a fresh, new version of SPFL Match Attax.”

There are 336 cards to collect, including brand new ‘rising star’, ‘awesome penalty takers’ and ‘star players’ cards to enhance gameplay.

The SPFL Match Attax Starter Pack retails at £4.99 and includes a collector binder, A2 play pitch a game guide, and a six card packet containing an exclusive gold limited edition card. A packet of nine cards will be £1 for collectors.

There is also the SPFL Match Attax Collector’s Tin available, retailing at £5.99, with 45 cards including a bronze, silver or gold limited edition card, all packaged in a mini tin to keep collections safe and travel handy!

Get the latest news and updates by following @toppsmatchattax on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat!