PREVIEW | St Mirren v Ross County

With the cinch Premiership campaign now well underway the Staggies are back on the road to face St Mirren.

St Mirren v Ross County
Date: 13/08/2022
Kick-Off: 15:00
Location: SMiSA Stadium, Paisley
Competition: cinch Premiership

Form

Ross County began their campaign with back-to-back defeats at the hands of two of last season’s top three. Last weekend the league champions came to Dingwall as the Staggies battled hard against Celtic. Kyogo gave Celtic a second half lead before Alex Iacovitti levelled from a corner. Two late goals from Moritz Jenz and Liel Abade sealed the win for the visitors. It followed on from the week previous where Malky Mackay’s side lost narrowly against Hearts where Jordan White’s late goal wasn’t enough to turn things around in a 2-1 loss at Tynecastle.

St Mirren are the only other side yet to record a point this season having suffered two defeats. Last weekend they made the trip north to Pittodrie for what would be a long afternoon. Bojan Mioviski gave the Dons the lead from the penalty after Declan Gallagher was sent off, and the forward grabbed a second on 37 minutes. Just before the break it went from bad to worse as Leighton Clarkson made it three. Jonah Ayunga pulled one back with a Saints penalty but a fourth from Luis Lopes buried the Buddies. The opening day saw them face Motherwell where another penalty was the difference with the Well securing the points.

Key Players

County ‘keeper Ross Laidlaw may be yet to keep a clean sheet but his performances have already been pleasing for the Staggies faithful. Laidlaw has made a string of fine saves in the opening two matches and will be keen to finally grab that first clean sheet this weekend. With Connor Randall now out for significant time, right-back Callum Johnson will be hoping to fill the void if selected having been utilised off the bench in the opening two games.

Saints striker Jonah Ayunga signed in the summer from Morecambe and is already off the mark following his goal at Aberdeen. The former Bristol Rovers forward has a wealth of experience at the English lower level and now, at 25, makes the jump to the cinch Premiership with St Mirren.

Head-to-Head

Last season we met St Mirren three times with a win, loss and draw across the trio of games. We last faced off in March where Joseph Hungbo’s penalty pinged off the underside of the crossbar and in to secure a huge three points. Our last trip to Paisley ended in a 0-0 draw. County are going down to try and end a seven year winless run at St Mirren, with our last three points at the SMiSA coming in 2015 via a Liam Boyce hat-trick – our first ever in the top flight.

Keep Up

For supporters unable to attend you can keep up with live updates via the club’s social media feeds.