The Jack Ross and James Fowler era gets up and running tomorrow afternoon as St Mirren play host to Dundee United in a Ladbrokes Championship match-up at The Paisley 2021 Stadium.

St Mirren’s new management duo were put in place last week but they didn’t pick up the reins until Monday morning this week as they started to plan and prepare for the visit of Ray McKinnon’s Dundee United side.

For many United were the surprise relegation victims from the Premiership last season and, as so often happens, the Tannadice side have taken a little while to find their feet again in the second tier.

After the departure of manager Mixu Paatelainen from Tannadice at the end of last season, United looked to Raith Rovers who were steered to the promotion playoffs by former Dundee United player Ray McKinnon.

Over the summer McKinnon was handed the task to build a squad that would return to the Premiership at the first time of asking. Former Rangers keeper Cammy Bell was brought in to try and turn round the fortunes of a side that conceded 70 league goals last season. McKinnon looked to the mainland continent for his defence by signing Dutch player Frank van der Struijk and Frenchman William Edjenguele. Another Dutchman,  Nick van der Velden was signed from Eredivisie side Willem II. The United gaffer also picked up some good Premiership experience with the signings of Tope Obadeyi from Kilmarnock and Stewart Murdoch from Ross County. The really impressive signing of United’s summer was a loan deal that brought former Hamilton Academical player Tony Andreu in on loan from Norwich City. It has been a shrewd signing to date as he has banged in six goals in as many appearances for United.

As already mentioned, new St Mirren manager Jack Ross and his assistant, James Fowler started earlier this week with the task of turning around St Mirren’s fortunes. The new duo have had a good base to work from as they took over on Monday morning after a fine 2-1 win against Hibernian in the IRN-BRU Cup last weekend at Easter Road. The Hibees took the lead on 37 minutes through Alex Harris but a stunning free-kick from Stephen Mallan had Saints level again just ahead of the half-time break. The game looked to be heading towards extra-time but David Clarkson’s late strike was enough to push Saints into the quarter-finals where they will face Ayr United next month.

St Mirren and Dundee United last faced each other in the 2014/15 Premiership campaign. United won the first two outings that season, both 3-0, with the final meeting between the sides taking place on 21st January 2015 when they battled out a 1-1 draw at The Paisley 2021 Stadium. The goal scorers, Kenny McLean for St Mirren and United’s Stuart Armstrong, were both close to the end of their time with the clubs as McLean would be at Aberdeen and Armstrong at Celtic by the end of the January transfer window.

You have to go back to 26th December 2013 to find Saints last win against The Tangerines. Goals from Steven Thompson and John McGinn had Saints ahead ten minutes before half-time at Tannadice but Nadir Ciftci gave the home side hope as he pulled back a goal before the break. Saints weren’t to be denied though as late goals from Jason Naismith and Steven Thompson secured a 4-1 win for the Paisley side.

St Mirren head to Easter Road tomorrow afternoon to face Neil Lennon’s Hibernian side for the second time this season.

The teams met back on 20th August when two goals from Jason Cummings in a ten minute period midway through the first half was enough for the Edinburgh side to leave Paisley with maximum points.

After an outstanding start to the season the Hibees have stumbled a bit over the last few weeks as they have lost top spot in the league to Queen of the South, albeit they only sit a point behind in second place. It started with a game at home against Ayr United which looked to be well in hand as Hibs led from a goal early in the second half by that man Cummings again but the game swung after Marvin Bartley was red carded with little more than twenty minutes remaining. The Ayrshire side scored two late goals to claim the points and shock Hibs. A goalless draw with fellow title challengers Queen of the South was followed by a 1-1 draw with Dundee United last weekend. Again Hibs had the lead through James Keatings but United hit back to earn a share of the points.

For all that Hibs are always going to be a formidable threat with Jason Cummings in their line-up. The 21-year-old has already banged in eight goals this term, two of them against Saints back in August.

Ex-Buddies Darren McGregor and John McGinn now ply their trade at Easter Road but McGinn won’t be available for selection tomorrow as he is with the Scotland side as they prepare for their match tomorrow evening against Lithuania.

Neil Lennon has a lot of quality in his side and will have the likes of Club Captain David Gray, Paul Hanlon, Lewis Stevenson, Fraser Fyvie, Andrew Shinnie, Dylan McGeouch, Alex Harris, Marvin Bartley and James Keatings at his disposal.

This week has been a very positive one for St Mirren. After Tom Walsh’s late equaliser against Falkirk last Saturday to grab a precious league point, Jack Ross was named as the club’s new manager on Tuesday and earlier today James Fowler was confirmed as his assistant.  Tomorrow will see Allan McManus oversee the first team for the final time as he bows down from his care-taking duties as Jack Ross comes in on Monday.

Tomorrow’s IRN-BRU Cup, 4th Round tie will see the sides face each other for the time in the Challenge Cup tournament. In fact they haven’t been drawn together in cup football since 26th February 2005 when they met in a Scottish Cup tie at Easter Road which the Hibees won 2-0 thanks to goals from Scott Brown and Garry O’Connor.

More often than not the form book can go out the window with cup football so we are sure to see an exciting tie at Easter Road tomorrow as both sides look to start pushing forward with their season.

St Mirren and Falkirk meet for the first time this season tomorrow in an early evening kick-off at The Paisley 2021 Stadium.

Falkirk made it to the promotion playoffs final last season and while they eventually lost out to Premiership side Kilmarnock it was expected that Peter Houston’s side would make another strong challenge for promotion again this season. The Bairns early season form looked to be contradicting that prediction but over the last month or so they look to have got themselves back on track.

Over the summer Houston lost the services of the impressive duo Will Vaulks and Blair Alston who both moved on to new pastures but he has done well in plugging in replacements for a squad that hasn’t changed too much since last season. Pick of the bunch is midfielder John Rankin, the former Dundee United, Hibernian and Inverness Caley Thistle player is sure to bring a lot of strength and drive to the Falkirk midfield. The Bairns gaffer also weakened some of his promotion-chasing opponents by snapping up Lewis Kidd from Queen of the South and James Craigen from Raith Rovers. Another nice pick-up was Luca Gasparotto, the former Rangers man impressed in a loan spell with Morton last season where he slotted nicely into the Greenock side’s defence.

Falkirk had a poor start to the season losing to Stirling Albion in the first Betfred Cup outing. They redeemed themselves with a 3-0 win over Elgin City which was followed by a 3-0 loss to Premiership side St Johnstone. The group was rounded off with a 2-0 win over Brechin City but The Bairns didn’t tally-up enough points to advance to the next round.

It was a tough start to the league season with fixtures against Hibernian, Morton and Queen of the South as their opening trio of matches. After going down 2-1 at home against Neil Lennon’s Hibernian side, The Bairns nabbed a point at Cappielow with Luke Leahy’s 90th minute equaliser against Morton. A trip to Dumfries followed but a Stephen Dobbie double kept the points with Queen of the South.

The following week their match against Dumbarton looked to be running out as a no-scoring draw until Lee Miller scored an 86th minute winner, since then Falkirk have forged ahead. After a 6-1 win over Elgin City in the IRN-BRU Cup league wins against Raith Rovers (2-0), Dundee United (3-1) and Ayr United (2-0) have catapulted The Bairns up to third place in the league, four points off top spot.

St Mirren got themselves ahead twice in last Saturday’s match at East End Park but somehow managed to still lose out by the odd goal in seven against Dunfermline. John Sutton gave Saints the lead on the half-hour mark which only lasted ten minutes as Nicky Clark pulled The Pars level again. But that man Sutton was on target again just before the break to send Saints into a half-time lead. A freakish own-goal from Andy Webster saw Dunfermline level again and then Clark put them into the lead for the first time. Saints thought they had grabbed a share of the points when Ryan Hardie’s shot flew into the back of the net but Farid El Alagui took advantage of some slack defending from Saints to nab the points for Dunfermline.

Saints didn’t do well against Falkirk last season losing three of the four league outings, the other match saw them get a share of the points in a goalless draw in Paisley at the beginning of March. You have to go back to 17th October 2009 for St Mirren’s last win against Falkirk when goals from Craig Dargo, Billy Mehmet and Tom Brighton countered Brian McLean’s opener for Falkirk.

St Mirren and Dunfermline Athletic go head to head on league business for the first time since 2012 tomorrow evening at East End Park in front of the BBC ALBA cameras.

The Pars stormed to the League One title last season under the stewardship of former Buddie Allan Johnston so a lot was expected of them this term but after an encouraging opening day in the league campaign they have stuttered.

For all that Johnston recruited well over the summer by signing former Kilmarnock duo Kallum Higginbotham and Lee Ashcroft. Farid El Alagui was snapped up from Hibernian as was former Rangers man Nicky Clark, both brought in to bolster up the forward line.

After wins against Arbroath and Cowdenbeath in the Betfred Cup, losses to Inverness Caley Thistle and Dundee United stopped them advancing in the tournament but hopes were raised again when the Pars won by the odd goal in seven against Dumbarton on the opening day of the Ladbrokes Championship. But losses to Hibernian (2-1), Raith Rovers (2-0) and Queen of the South (1-0) saw the Fife club bump back down to Earth.

Daylight was spotted at the end of the tunnel again with a resounding 5-1 victory against Brechin City in the IRN-BRU Cup but back to back defeats against Dundee United (3-1) and Morton (2-1) in the league see the East End Park side sitting in second bottom spot on the league table, edging out St Mirren by goals scored.

Things haven’t been much better for Saints although they did rally back to earn a share of the points away to Dumbarton last weekend thanks to a headed equaliser by Ryan Hardie. But Saints poor run and start to the season saw the end of Alex Rae’s reign as manager earlier this week as his and assistant manager David Farrell’s contracts were terminated by the club.

St Mirren and Dunfermline last faced each other in the league on 21st April 2012 in an eight goal SPL thriller in Paisley, with the sides having to settle for a point apiece in a 4-4 draw. The sides did meet last season in the Challenge Cup at The Paisley 2021 Stadium where goals from Calum Gallagher and Scott Agnew, and a brace from Stephen Mallan gave Saints a 4-0 win and progression to the next round.

Allan McManus will take over the managerial duties for tomorrow’s match at East End Park where he will be looking to impress, knowing that a win will see Saints leapfrog Dunfermline.

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.

St Mirren and Queen of the South face up to each other for the first time this season tomorrow afternoon in a Ladbrokes Championship match-up at The Paisley 2021 Stadium.

Leading the team from Dumfries will be Gavin Skelton who took over the managerial helm at Palmerston Park at the end of last season after the departure of James Fowler. Having struggled by their own standards last season, the Doonhamers under Skelton have found their swagger again this term having got the season off to a flying start.

The Dumfries side lost a lot of good talent from their squad over the summer but Skelton has recruited well as he looked to find more balance again in the side. A really good pick-up is former Hearts and Kilmarnock defender Jamie Hamill who will shore up a defence that shipped 56 league goals last season, their poorest tally since season 2011/12 when they were relegated. Man of many clubs, Stephen Dobbie made a return to Palmerston this summer and has got off to a great start by scoring 6 goals in just as many outings so far this season, adding to his previous total in Dumfries of 54 goals in 97 appearances.

Skelton also brought in former Carlisle player Steven Rigg and midfielder Grant Anderson who made the move to Queens from Raith Rovers after a four year stint with the Kirkcaldy side. The Queen of the South manager also snapped up 20-year-old Aussie Lyndon Dykes Dykes from Surfers Paradise Apollo Soccer Club of Queensland Australia. There are also a few more familiar faces still around such as club captain Chris Higgins and striker Derek Lyle who knows the way to the back of the net having already bagged 6 this season.

The Doonhamers have got this season off to a really good start with three wins out of four ties in their Betfred Cup group, their only loss coming to Premiership side Partick Thistle, but the three wins assured qualification to the round of 16. A more than creditable 1-1 draw away to Dundee United on the opening day of the league season was followed by an incredible 3-1 victory away to high-flying Hibernian in the Betfred Cup which earned them a tie away to Rangers in the quarter-finals which will be played the midweek after next.

Since then league wins against Ayr United (4-1), Falkirk (2-0) and Dunfermline (1-0) see Queens sit in 3rd spot two points behind table toppers Hibs and on level points with Raith Rovers. Last weekend they went on a goal-scoring spree as the booked their place in the last 16 of the IRN-BRU Cup with a thumping 7-1 win against Stenhousemuir.

St Mirren also had success in the IRN-BRU Cup last Saturday as they battled back from two goals down to win 4-3 after extra-time. After going down to an early two goal deficit against Albion Rovers, goals from Lewis Morgan, Stephen Mallan and John Sutton hauled Saints into the lead but a quick equaliser just ahead of half-time saw both sides battle out a dour second half. With the game forced into extra-time Saints got the last say as Lawrence Shankland was on hand to head home to put Saints into a last 16 tie with Hibernian.

Another positive from last week’s match at Coatbridge was the return from injury of midfielder Rocco Quinn and a St Mirren debut for Gary MacKenzie who had been battling injury in the early part of the season also.

St Mirren had the upper hand across the four meetings with Queen of the South last season. The teams met in September last year in Dumfries with Saints running our 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Sean Kelly and Steven Thompson. Saints and The Doonhamers didn’t go head to head again until February when Stephen Mallan’s goal was the difference between the sides. But the following week an Alex Harris goal saw Queens get revenge at Palmerston. Stephen Mallan gave Saints the lead on the half-hour mark from a penalty-kick in the last meeting between the sides on 12th March. Gary Oliver pulled Queens level again midway through the second half but within sixty seconds Saints were back in front when Callum Tapping put the ball through his own goal.

It may only be the fifth league game of the season but both teams will be looking for maximum points. Queens will be looking to try and put pressure on the two sides above them in the league table while Saints will be looking to build on last week’s come-back win and hope to put together a game-winning performance to get their league season up and going.

St Mirren and Albion Rovers face each other competitively for the first time in 36 years tomorrow afternoon as they meet in the 3rd Round of the IRN-BRU Cup at the Exsel Group Stadium.

The Coatbridge side are managed by former Aberdeen midfielder Darren Young. He left Aberdeen in 2003 to join Dunfermline where he spent five years before signing for Dundee. Spells followed with Queen of the South, Morton and Alloa before taking over as player manager at Albion Rovers in the summer of 2014.

Young steered the Wee Rovers to the League Two Championship in his first season in charge and saw his side hold their own in League One last season having fell a couple of points short of making the promotion playoffs.

At the ripe old age of 37 Young still pulls the boots on although he has only made one appearance so far this season, in the previous round of the IRN-BRU Cup when Rovers knocked out Hamilton Academical Under-20 side

The side from Coatbridge have not had the best of starts to the season. After being eliminated from the Betfred Cup with three draws and a loss, the league campaign started with a 2-2 draw away to East Fife then a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Brechin City. A victory came in Round 2 of the IRN-BRU Cup that was followed by an impressive comeback up at Peterhead earning a share of the points after being down two-nil. Last weekend they lost 4-0 to high-flying Alloa Athletic.

St Mirren had a fight back of their own last week as a last minute equaliser from Tom Walsh countered Jamie Adams’ early opener for Ayr United.

The Buddies and the Wee Rovers last faced each other a couple of years ago in a pre-season friendly but the last competitive match-up was on 30th August 1980 when Saints won 5-0 at Love Street in the second leg of a League Cup tie, having won 2-1 through at Coatbridge in the first leg.

Cup ties are usually exciting and going on good cup runs can be pretty special but both sides will no doubt take tomorrow’s break from league football as a chance to loosen up from the pressures of their leagues and see it as an opportunity to try and find a bit of form before they get back to the bread and butter of league football again next weekend.

Stephen Mallan says he is looking forward to St Mirren taking on Albion Rovers this weekend in the IRN-BRU Cup. St Mirren enter at the third round stage of the revamped competition and have been drawn away to League One Albion at the Exsel Group Stadium. Midfielder Mallan believes that cup competition will take minds off the Championship for a weekend and could be a good opportunity to boost the morale of not just the players, but the supporters too.

“It takes your mind off the league,” he said. “We did that last season in the cup games when we were slow to start but when we got back into the league we were flying. It’ll give us a wee bit of a distraction and hopefully we can go into that game and get a win.”

The Buddies made it to the semi-finals of the competition last season and picked up an excellent 4-0 win over then League One side Dunfermline on the way amidst a difficult start to the league campaign. Mallan scored two goals that day and believes they can try to use the cup to help give something back to the supporters.

He said: “If we get a good cup run and get a good few wins under our belt it’ll boost the team’s confidence and the morale of the fans. You can see they’re down just now, with our performances, and rightly so because we’ve not been up to scratch so it’s something we need to help for ourselves and for the club as a whole.”

Mallan admitted that St Mirren were fortunate to gain a point against Ayr United in the Ladbrokes Championship on Saturday after substitute Tom Walsh scored a late equaliser for the Buddies.

“We were lucky to salvage a point with Tom,” he said. “It was a good goal for him but the full game as a whole we should have done a lot better – especially in the first half where we started slow in the game.”

However, he does believe that the late goal can help kick start the season. Walsh nodded home from a Lawrence Shankland throw-in and Mallan feels that a moment like that can help provide a spark for the Saints to push on.

He said: “Yeah obviously it can lift the spirits. You can see we were kind of struggling for a goal and the fans weren’t happy but it gives them something to talk about on the way home as a point is better than nothing. Obviously we want the three points but Saturday wasn’t the day, but we’re always fighting till the last minute and because we got the goal you can see the fight in the team so hopefully we can take that into next week.”

Mallan has been impressed by the way both Walsh and Walsh’s fellow loanee Ryan Hardie have settled in to the club since joining on loan from Rangers this summer.

“They’ve done very well,” he said. “Obviously they know each other very well, they’ve linked up well and you can see the quality they’ve both got. It’s good that they’ve come in and we just need to try and give them the ball because they are both good ball players. We need to try and supply Ryan a lot more I’d say, get him a few goals and if Walshy is playing, you can see on Saturday that he’s come on, changed the game and got a goal.”

Supporters will be able to pay-at-the-gate on Saturday with adult tickets costing £10 and concessions and children’s tickets costing £5.

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.”

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.