St Mirren make their first away trip of the new year on Saturday when Jack Ross' side take on Dunfermline at East End Park in a 3pm kick-off. 

Loan signings Craig Storie and Rory Loy go into the squad for the match after joining up with the Buddies this week from Ladbrokes Premiership sides Aberdeen and Dundee respectively. Midfielder Pål Fjelde will also go into the squad subject to international clearance after signing a deal until the end of the season following his departure from Byrne FK in his native Norway.

Saints come into the match on the back of a 3-0 loss to Queen of the South at the Paisley 2021 Stadium last weekend. The Buddies were undone by late goals from Joe Thomson and an own goal from Gary MacKenzie in the last 10 minutes of the match after Stephen Dobbie had given the visitors a first half lead. 

Dunfermline are the form team in the Ladbrokes Championship with four wins from their last seven league matches with the most recent coming last Saturday in a 2-0 win away to Ayr United. The Pars haven't lost in the league since a 1-0 defeat to Dundee United at Tannadice at the start of November. 

The two teams have faced each other 90 times in league action with Saints winning 29, drawing 23 and losing 38. The Pars have come out on top of both meetings this season by a single goal. In October, two goals from John Sutton and a strike from Ryan Hardie couldn't save Saints from a 4-3 defeat at East End Park. The last clash between the two came in November when Nicky Clark's first half effort was enough to see Dunfermline leave Paisley with all three points. 

The Buddies last victory against Dunfermline came last season in the Challenge Cup when a Stevie Mallan brace was added to goals from Calum Gallagher and Scott Agnew to seal a 4-0 win.

The aim for Saints continues to be to win as many matches as possible as we look to lift ourselves from the foot of the table. Meanwhile, Dunfermline will be looking to maintain their run of good form which has given them an outside chance of moving into the promotion play-offs.

St Mirren get 2017 underway tomorrow as Jack Ross' side host Queen of the South at the Paisley 2021 Stadium. 

The Buddies picked up their first league win of the season at the start of December when a late goal from Stephen Mallan secured a 3-2 win over Queens at Palmerston. Kyle Magennis scored his first senior goal in the win sandwiched between two strikes for the home side by Stephen Dobbie. Ben Gordon got the Saints on level terms again in the second half before Mallan's 90th minute hit sent the travelling support into raptures. 

Saints are unbeaten in their last four matches at home and welcome tomorrow's visitors on the back of a 1-1 draw with Renfrewshire rivals Morton on Hogmanay. Gary MacKenzie got his first goal for the Black and Whites when he powered home a header from a Mallan corner. It looked set to be the perfect end to 2016 until Ricki Lamie scored a late leveller for the visitors. It was, however, another point to the tally and maintained Saints decent form with just one loss in the last five overall.

Queen of the South come into the match with three draws in their last four games with the most recent, a Hogmanay 0-0 draw with Ayr United. They lost their last match on their travels, a narrow 1-0 defeat at Cappielow against Morton.

The Doonhamers have already come away from the Paisley 2021 Stadium with all three points this season back in September when goals from veteran striker Derek Lyle, who was at the double, and Dobbie secured a 3-1 win for the Dumfries side. However, they have only won once since then in the league in a run that has saw them go from top of the league to eighth place. 

The two sides have met 76 times overall in league competition with Saints coming out on top on 36 occasions, drawing 17 and losing 23. 

Tomorrow's game could be a huge in the context of the season with Saints knowing the importance of three points in a bid to lift themselves from the bottom of the table. For Gary Naysmith, he will be looking for his first victory as a Queen of the South manager as he looks to ensure that his team aren't dragged in to a relegation dogfight. 

Saints will be looking to finish 2016 in the same way they started it when Greenock Morton come to the Paisley 2021 Stadium tomorrow. 

The Buddies travelled to Cappielow for the first league game of 2016 and returned to Paisley with all three points when Lawrence Shankland headed home the only goal of the game to seal the win and get the year off to the perfect start.

St Mirren still sit at the bottom of the table after losing to Dundee United in a spirited effort on Christmas Eve at Tannadice. John Sutton put the visitors ahead on 27 minutes when he capitalised on an error from Coll Donaldson to coolly stroke the ball beyond Cammy Bell. It was a goal which ended Bell's hopes of matching Hamish McAlpine's clean sheet record for Dundee United with the Arabs having not conceded a goal in their previous six matches.

But Saints failed to build on the goal and the home side found themselves level a mere minute later when Scott Fraser struck. Then Simon Murray nodded beyond Scott Gallacher just before the interval to secure victory for the home side.

Morton come into this game on the back of a 1-0 win over Queen of the South on Christmas Eve. They were beaten in their last match away from Cappielow, losing 2-1 to Dunfermline at East End Park almost three weeks ago. 

Like with Dundee United last weekend, Saints will face one of the meanest defences in the country when Morton come to town with the Greenock side having only conceded 18 goals in the league so far this season. They have kept clean sheets in three of their last five league game, however, it's a defence that St Mirren have breached on both occasions this season. 

The Buddies have met Morton twice in League action during this campaign - drawing 1-1 on the opening day of the season and losing 3-1 at Cappielow in November. One man Saints will have to keep their eye on is Thomas O'Ware. The defender has scored nine times for the Ton this season and has been on target in both of the Renfrewshire derbies this season. 

For Saints, there will be a determination from the players to put things right after the loss at Cappielow and continue to accumulate points as they look to push up the league. While Morton will want to strengthen their position in the play-off places and win their first match in Paisley since the turn of the Millennium. 

St Mirren make their final away trip of 2016 tomorrow when Jack Ross' side take on Dundee United at Tannadice in a 12:30pm kick off.

The Saints come into the Christmas Eve fixture having picked up seven points from a possible nine with wins over Queen of the South and Raith Rovers followed by draw with Ayr United at the Paisley 2021 Stadium. John Sutton was on target in his 100th appearance for The Buddies as he nodded home David Clarkson's cross in the 81st minute to take a share of the spoils in the 1-1 draw.

Dundee United are in a good run of form having now drawn themselves level on points with Hibernian at the top of the Ladbrokes Championship. The Arabs haven't lost a match in any competition since a League Cup loss in September - a run of 13 games unbeaten. Saints biggest challenge tomorrow will be attempting to breach a defence which hasn't conceded a goal in its last six matches stretching back to the start of November. Mostly recently though United were held to a 0-0 draw against Raith Rovers at Stark's Park.

The only meeting between the two this season came in October at the Paisley 2021 Stadium as Jack Ross took charge of the Saints for the first time. Despite putting in a good performance, it was the away side who ran out winners with goals from Scott Fraser and Tony Andreu securing a 2-0 win.

This is St Mirren's first trip to Tannadice since November 2014 where the home side ran out 3-0 winners. Saints last victory against United in Dundee came on 30 December 2012 as the Buddies came out on top in a pulsating 4-3 win. Goals from Paul Dummett, Steven Thompson, Marc McAusland and David Van Zanten sealing the win in the seven goal thriller to end the year on a high. 

Saints will be without Ben Gordon, who is likely to be out for two-three months, and Jordan Stewart, though beyond that Jack Ross will have almost a full squad to call upon. 

It may be the festive period but the hosts won't be in the mood for sending Saints home with a gift as they look to keep up the pressure on Hibernian in an attempt to displace them at the top of the tree. For St Mirren the aim remains to keep winning matches as the team look to gain ground on those sitting above in the league.

St Mirren welcome Ayr United to the Paisley 2021 Stadium for the third time this season when the two face off tomorrow afternoon in the Ladbrokes Championship.  

It will be the first league meeting of the two in Paisley this season after matches in the Betfred and IRN-BRU Cups respectively. 

Saints came out on top on both occasions, with Jack Baird scoring in added time in the first meeting to give the Buddies a 1-0 win on a hot July night. John Sutton was then at the double when the two sides mets in the IRN-BRU Cup last month when his two late goals in as many minutes sealed a 2-1 win St Mirren after Andy O'Connell had given the visitors the lead.

The only league meeting between the two in the 2016/17 campaign so far came back in August when St Mirren travelled to Somerset Park to face Ian McCall's newly promoted side. Ayr took an early lead when Jamie Adams headed home with less than 15 minutes played. It was another late show from the Buddies - a common theme in these fixtures this season - when loanee Tom Walsh nodded in an equaliser with just a few minutes remaining to rescue a point for Saints. 

St Mirren come into this game buoyed on the back of two successive league win which have moved them to within four points of safety. The first league of the season was secured with a 3-2 win over Queen of the South at Palmerston last week before being added to by a 1-0 victory at home to Raith Rovers. Added to that, Saints have won four out of their last six matches in all competitions which includes the IRN-BRU Cup triumph over tomorrow's visitors in November.

Saints will be boosted by the return of Stephen Mallan who missed the win over Raith Rovers with a sickness bug, but will be without defender Ben Gordon who limped off in the early stages of that match and is expected to be out for up to two or three months.

A win for St Mirren will move the Buddies to within three points of Ayr United and, dependant on results elsewhere, could move them to within one point of ninth placed Dumbarton as Saints look to haul themselves off the foot of the table. For the Honest Men, they'll be eager to try to make up for the two losses in their previous trips to Paisley this season and maintain their points gap as they hope to make their stay in the Championship last longer than one season. With very little between the two sides this season we could be in for another close encounter at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.

St Mirren host Raith Rovers at the Paisley 2021 Stadium tomorrow on the back of their first league win of the season on Tuesday night.

Saints got a monkey off their back as they defeated Queen of the South at Palmerston in midweek and will welcome Gary Locke's side to Paisley as they look to build some momentum in a bid to lift themselves off the bottom of the Ladbrokes Championship. It meant Saints have won two of their last three matches, having beaten Spartans 5-1 in the Scottish Cup last week.

The Kirkcaldy side come into this match on the back of three draws against Ayr United, Dumbarton and Dunfermline which has saw them slip out of the play-off spot. They drew blanks in the games against Dumbarton and Dunfermline and while a goal from Joel Coustrain looked like giving them victory over Ayr, the Honest Men snatched a late equaliser through ex-Saint Gary Harkins.

The two teams have met 116 times in league competition with Saints coming out on top on 47 occasions, drawing 25 and losing 44. However, it was Raith who came out on top in the only meeting between the two sides this season as they bested the Buddies by 3-1 at Stark's Park back in August. 

Raith visited the Paisley 2021 twice last season and left on both occasions with narrow 2-1 victories. St Mirren's last win over Raith in the league came back in April 2005 when Gus MacPherson's team beat The Rovers 3-0 at Love Street. 

There's good news for the Saints heading into the match with the news that Kyle Magennis, scorer of the first goal on Tuesday night, has signed a new contract which keeps him at the club until summer 2019. 

For Jack Ross the aim will be to build on Tuesday night's win as he looks to push his team off the bottom of the table and, while unbeaten in their last six matches, Gary Locke will be keen for his Raith side to start turning draws into wins as the aim for a play-off finish again this season.

St Mirren make the journey down to Palmerston Park tomorrow night as they face Queen of the South in a rearranged Ladbrokes Championship fixture. The original match, scheduled for 12th November, was postponed due to both teams involvement in the IRN-BRU Cup quarter finals. 

Saints come into tomorrow's game on the back of a 3-1 loss to Falkirk at the Falkirk Stadium on Saturday. The Buddies took the lead early on in the game when Lewis Morgan rocketed home a shot from a John Sutton knock down. The away side looked comfortable before defender Jack Baird was sent off before half time following an altercation with Falkirk's Lee Miller.

It was Miller who got the home side level just after the break before goals from Bob McHugh and Myles Hippolyte sealed the win for the Bairns. It was a frustrating result for Saints but the team performed well throughout and on another day it could've been so different.

Queen of the South will be looking for their first league win since a 3-1 home victory over Raith Rovers in September. The Doonhamers started the season off in great form but since that win, which put them top of the league, they have only drawn two of their following eight league matches. Most recently they lost 2-1 to Dumbarton in the Ladbrokes Championship on Saturday. Derek Lyle scored an 80th minute goal for Queens to pull them back into the game, but it wasn't enough to steal a late draw.

The two teams have met once this season with Queen of the South leaving Paisley with all three points as they saw St Mirren off with a 3-1 win. Experienced striker Lyle put Queens ahead before loanee Tom Walsh grabbed an equaliser with a spectacular effort. Lyle scored against just before half time before a second half goal from Stephen Dobbie clinched victory for the away side. 

Saints had a better record against the Dumfries side last season winning three of the four meetings between the two clubs. The Buddies picked up their first league win of the 2015/16 season at Palmerston as goals from Sean Kelly and Steven Thompson sealed a 2-0 win at the start of September 2015.

The next meeting didn't take place until February 2016 with a Stevie Mallan free kick enough to give Saints the win. Just a week later the two teams met again in league action at Palmerston with the home side picking up a 1-0 win that time. The final clash came in March at the Paisley 2021 Stadium where Mallan was on the scoresheet once again to open the scoring before a Callum Tapping own goal secured a big three points for the Saints.

Queens will be looking for the clichéd new manager bounce as Gary Naysmith takes charge of the Doonhamers for the first time. The ex-Scotland International has become the club's new permanent manager, joining from East Fife, and officially begins his duties just in time for tomorrow's match. 

For Saints, they know it's important to start putting points on the board with ninth place Dunfermline sitting nine points above the Saints. Improved performances under Jack Ross haven't yet translated to points and the manager will be keen to get these two married together as quickly as possible.

Jack Ross believes that St Mirren supporters will respond if the team shows the right attitude and desire to win football matches.

The manager, remembering the famous 2-0 win at the Falkirk Stadium back in 2009 in which he starred for the Buddies, says that his biggest memory from that day was the incredible backing from the Saints loyal and knows that if his players can start winning matches and putting in good performances that the supporters will give similar backing. 

Speaking to stmirren.com ahead of tomorrow's Ladbrokes Championship match against Falkirk, the manager said: "From my point of view, it was probably one of my favourite games in my whole career. The support we had that day was just incredible.

I think what I take from it memory wise is that it just reminds me of what the supporters do at this club because, as I said, the backing we had that day that will live long in my memory.

The supporters will back the players but we need to give them something to back us for and that's what we're trying to do. We want supporters to see an attitude and desire and they'll respond to that, I know that. If we can go and start the game positively tomorrow that will ignite them as well. 

The manager is expecting a difficult match against a Falkirk side who are chasing the play-offs, but thinks the players should enjoy playing in a good stadium.

It's like every game in this league, especially away from home, they're tough matches," he said. "But I think the environment you go to is good. I stressed that to the players today, they should enjoy going and playing there. Especially the players we've got in the team at the moment in midfield area. They've got good pace and quality about the way they pass the ball so it's an ideal environment for them to go to and I think the surroundings make it a good game.

"There's always been a good rivalry between the two clubs in recent years as well so there are a lot of things the players should look forward to tomorrow."

Jack hopes that the team can carry forward the momentum from Tuesday night's win over Spartans into the game and the coming weeks.

We've spent this week trying to look at all the positive things the players are doing well and working on the things that they need to improve on. They're maintaining an optimism and they need that to go and get results.

"Results will do that and Tuesday was a good indication of that because, although we were on a hiding to nothing, the manner of the performance and the margin of the result was a good thing for us. 

"We need to put a run together that picks up points but also instils that belief because the belief comes in fits and starts at the moments. You can visibly see it in the players in games but results help that hugely."

St Mirren travel through to Falkirk tomorrow afternoon in search of their first three points of the season.

Jack Ross' side come into the match following Tuesday night's 5-1 win over Lowland League side Spartans in the third round of the Scottish Cup.

The Buddies have already faced the Bairns this season with Tom Walsh's 87th equaliser rescuing a point in a 1-1 draw at the Paisley 2021 Stadium at the start of October. Craig Sibbald had given Falkirk an early lead when his 9th minute free kick deflected off the Saints wall and beyond Jamie Langfield. With the clock running out loanee Walsh picked up the ball from deep in the Falkirk half before driving toward goal and rifled in an effort from outside the box. 

Saints failed to beat Falkirk in four league meetings last season, with the Bairns winning three and the other ending in a 0-0 draw. The first contest between the two looked to be heading for a Buddies win when goals from Scott Agnew and Stephen Mallan had the Buddies 2-0 ahead at half time. But Falkirk completed a second half fightback when John Baird scored in the 92th minute to steal all three points.

Late goals seem to be a common theme in these matches in the recent past and again that was the case when Saints last visited the Falkirk Stadium back in April. Two Stephen Mallan goals, the second coming in the 82nd minute, looked to have given St Mirren a point as the end of the season drew near. But Blair Alston struck in the 90th minute to snatch a 3-2 win in the Bairns' favour. 

Falkirk currently sit in fifth place in the Ladbrokes Championship with 22 points from 14 matches. The Bairns were unbeaten in the month of November drawing with Morton and Hibs, while beating Ayr United at Somerset Park. Their last defeat at the Falkirk Stadium came in October when Raith Rovers defeated them 4-2. 

St Mirren's last league victory at the Falkirk Stadium came back in 2009 when goals from Craig Dargo, Billy Mehmet and Tom Brighton secured a 3-1 win for the Buddies. 

For Saints, the aim will be to try to get that first league win of the season and look towards closing the gap with the teams that currently sit above the Buddies in the table. For Falkirk, they'll be aiming to move themselves back into a play-off place as they look to go one further than they did last season and could potentially do that with a win.

All the matchday info can be found here

John Sutton believes that tonight's match against Spartans won't be easy and says that some of the results from the Scottish Cup ties that went ahead on Saturday proves that. 

The striker knows about tonight's opposition and once scored against them for St Mirren back in 2006 when the Saints beat the East of Scotland side 3-0 in a replay at Paisley after having drawn 0-0 the first match. 

Yeah it's tricky," he explained. "You only have to look at the results at the weekend. I think some junior teams got a replay and certainly others ran teams pretty close. It's not going to be an easy game. 

"I know from my time playing at Hearts that Spartans have a very good setup and will have a very professional outlook on it. It's up to us to go and beat that."

Sutton was speaking to stmirren.com at the St Mirren Training Complex in Ralston after picking up the IRN-BRU Golden Balls Player of the Round for his role in the 2-1 victory over Ayr United in the IRN-BRU Cup quarter-final a few weeks ago. He admitted it was frustrating not to play on Saturday as the team looked to bounce back from the loss to Dunfermline, but hopes the side can take inspiration from their form in the IRN-BRU Cup. 

It was disappointed not playing on Saturday," he said. "You what a home draw in the cup which is what we got. We've gone on a good run in the IRN-BRU Cup and had some good results in there so we're hoping that the Scottish Cup will put us on a good run as well and we'll see where that takes us." 

Speaking on the award from IRN-BRU, the striker said: "I'd much rather be picking up a winners medal in the final.

But it's nice that we got through the round and I'm only getting on the end of crosses that other boys are putting in the box. 

"I was lucky enough to play in the last [Challenge Cup] final we won and winning that was a brilliant feeling. We're not too far away from having another shot at that."

While Sutton thinks that the addition of the Irish and Welsh sides to the competition has been a good thing, he isn't taking semi-final opponents The New Saints lightly. 

I think it's been a really good idea having the Irish and Welsh teams in there. I think it adds spice to the occasion.

"You look at some of the big teams who have been out of the Premiership the last couple of years and they've not always done so well in this competition, so I think it shows how hard it is to win anything. 

"We know TNS are going to be a very good side. They've dominated in Wales or certainly been at the top for many years now. It's going to be a test for us, but one we are looking forward to."