Match Preview: St Mirren v RCFC

Ross County will travel to Paisley this weekend to take on John Goodwin’s high-flying St Mirren at The SMISA Stadium.

The Staggies will be hoping to clinch consecutive victories for the first time since the opening 2 fixtures of this season after defeating the Scottish Premiership champions, Celtic, 1-0 at the Global Energy Stadium last Sunday night.

Opposition Focus

The Buddies currently occupy 6^th spot in the Scottish Premiership and are engaged in an intense battle with St Johnstone, Dundee United and Livingston for a top-half finish before the league splits on matchday 33.

St Mirren require 7 points from their next 3 matches to guarantee a top-half finish; they will have to record at least 2 wins and a draw over Ross County, Hamilton and league leaders Rangers.

With St Johnstone and Livingston not involved in league action this weekend as they contest the Betfred Cup final, Jim Goodwin’s side have a golden opportunity to get a head start on their contenders in the race for the top 6.

St Mirren have had an exceptional season under Jim Goodwin. They reached the Betfred Cup semi-final and are the only club to defeat both Rangers and Celtic this season. The Buddies defeated Rangers 3-2 to reach the Betfred Cup semi-final in December, ending a 26-match unbeaten run. They were the first club to defeat Rangers since Bayern Leverkusen in August and have completed the task that Benfica, Galatasaray and Standard Liege among others failed in.

Despite their successful season, St Mirren are without a win in their last 5 matches. They last featured in league action on Wednesday night as they played out an uneventful goalless draw with Motherwell.

Ross County Focus

County are currently in 10^th place in the Scottish Premiership, 2 points ahead of Kilmarnock in 11^th and 3 points behind Motherwell in 9th, with a game in hand over both sides.

The Staggies are 2 points clear of the drop, with Hamilton holding bottom spot.

A second half header from Jordan White snatched all 3 points for County in Dingwall at the weekend against the league champions but John Hughes has yet to record back-to-back victories as Ross County manager.

Yogi has faced St Mirren 28 times in his managerial career and won 10 of those encounters. A win on Saturday would mean Yogi has never won more matches against any other club in his managerial career than St Mirren.

The form league table (based on each club’s 5 most recent Scottish Premiership fixtures) places Ross County in joint-5^th position, equal with Dundee United and behind only Rangers, Celtic, Hibernian and St Johnstone.

Last Match

9-men Ross County were defeated by St Mirren at the Global Energy Stadium in December. Josh Reid and Ross Draper were sent off for the Staggies before late goals from Marcus Fraser and Kristian Dennis broke the commendable resistance of the County defence in John Hughes’ second match in charge.