On the identical winter’s day that Kilmarnock slipped into eleventh place, St Mirren got the weekend off from Premiership obligation as they lifted the League Cup – their first main honour since 2013 – after a well-known 3-1 victory over Celtic.
Since then, the whole lot has gone downhill and a marketing campaign that included such a memorable second may but finish in distress.
The crew’s issues haven’t been onerous to establish, with solely 27 targets scored in 35 league video games and the defensive solidity that helped earn top-six finishes within the three earlier seasons disappearing.
Whereas St Mirren didn’t need to lose Stephen Robinson to Aberdeen, the short-term appointment of McLeish had supplied a brand new supervisor bounce of types.
A slim loss to Rangers was adopted by back-to-back wins over Falkirk and Aberdeen, however since then they’ve had a run of 4 defeats – and issues have piled up.
Accidents have disadvantaged the crew of key gamers like Keanu Baccus, Marcus Fraser and Jonah Ayunga, who scored a double in that Hampden remaining.
Goalkeeper Shamal George and back-up Ryan Mullen are each sidelined, with emergency short-term signing Ross Sinclair between the sticks for the previous two video games.
Whereas Kilmarnock head to the SMiSA Stadium with a poor away document, St Mirren’s final residence match was a meek 2-0 defeat by a Livingston aspect who had hadn’t gained a recreation since August.
“We have the benefit of being at residence,” McLeish mentioned. “It simply most likely makes the image even clearer in our head.
“However you are not eager to depend on anybody else.”
Nothing shall be settled for sure after what appears prone to be a nerve-wracking afternoon.
Nevertheless, the result may have a serious say in who will finish their season scrapping in a tense play-off battle.
