Preview: Kilmarnock vs. St Johnstone - prediction, team news, lineups

Killie fell to a heavy defeat at the hands of Aberdeen at the weekend, and sit just one place off the bottom of the table.

Match preview

Derek McInnes's side will be very glad to be back on home turf for this clash, as they lost yet again on the road on Saturday, shipping four goals at Pittodrie.

They remain the only side in the division yet to pick up a point away from home despite playing more away fixtures than any other team.

They did at least get their first away goal of the season in that defeat, but the newly-promoted side are already in danger of being cut adrift of most of the sides above them.

A big reason for their struggles has been their profligacy in front of goal, considering that they have only scored four goals in eight games so far and centre-back Ash Taylor has scored three of them himself.

One positive though, is how Killie have performed in the League Cup, and there remains reason for optimism on that front with a quarter-final to come in just over two weeks' time, but improvement on the league front is required rapidly, or they face the possibility of dropping straight back into the Championship.

St Johnstone, meanwhile, have seen an upturn in their fortunes since last season, when they narrowly avoided the drop by winning the relegation playoffs.

Being six points clear of the bottom two places shows improvement and even has them looking up and targeting a place in the Championship group at the end of the regular season.

A notable change from last season has been their ability to score more often, given the fact they scored a dismal 24 in 38 games last season.

This season they are almost up to half of that tally in just eight matches, despite still not having a regular goalscorer in their ranks, but sharing the goals around has not been as much of a problem this season.

A very strong September has pulled Callum Davidson's team up the table as they took a very impressive seven points from their three matches last month, and it was just the run of form they needed after losing three straight games at the end of August.

Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form:

L

L

W

L

L

L

Kilmarnock form (all competitions):

L

W

W

L

L

L

St Johnstone Scottish Premiership form:

L

L

L

W

D

W

Team News

Despite being charged by the SFA and fined by Kilmarnock, Kyle Lafferty will have to wait another four games before he and his club find out whether a 10-game ban will be coming his way following the use of sectarian language during a night out.

Lafferty was an unused sub against Aberdeen, but McInnes is annoyed at the SFA for delaying their decision and leaving the manager in two minds about whether to pick the Northern Ireland international at this moment in time.

McInnes also has a decision to make about his goalkeeper, as replacing Samuel Walker with the recently returning Zach Hemming has not had the desired effect, so he could opt to choose the man who started their first six league games of the season again.

Liam Donnelly could return to the side here following three games out, but Scott Robinson will remain sidelined for a little longer with a heel injury.

St Johnstone have three players edging closer to joining up with the first team squad for the first time this season, including Canadian international David Wotherspoon who is nearing his return from an ACL injury which has kept him out for several months.

Chris Kane is another who has been suffering from a serious knee injury, but a comeback here is just a bit soon for the attacker.

Cameron MacPherson is close to recovering from a thigh injury which has kept him out since August, as is Callum Booth in defence, having not featured since going off against Livingston in May.

St Johnstone could well stay unchanged following their win on the road against Dundee United at the weekend.

Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:

Hemming; Mayo, Taylor, Wright, Chrisene; Armstrong, Power, Polworth, Jones, McKenzie; Cameron

St Johnstone possible starting lineup:

Matthews; Wright, Mitchell, Gordon, Considine, Montgomery; Hallberg, McGowan, Murphy; May, Clark

We say: Kilmarnock 1-1 St Johnstone

The only points Kilmarnock have picked up have all been at home this season, and they really cannot afford to lose a fourth consecutive game, especially to a side who were below them just a few weeks ago.

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