Preview: St Mirren vs. Hibernian - prediction, team news, lineups

The game was initially scheduled for the weekend, but was then postponed due to Hibs' League Cup commitments.

Match preview

St Mirren will be eager to get back out on the pitch after having the weekend off, as they will hope to continue the fine form which currently has them as far and away the best of the rest in Scotland.

Despite playing the joint-fewest games in the league, St Mirren are up in third, having taken 18 points from their opening 10 matches.

Stephen Robinson's side have a two-point buffer over Kilmarnock below them while having played two games fewer.

Only Rangers and Celtic have been able to beat the Saints in the league so far this season, and defeat away to the champions was very unfortunate, considering they took the lead and were beaten by a goal seven minutes from time.

Europe will now be the target for a club who have not played continental football in almost four decades.

St Mirren have only qualified for Europe through the league on three occasions, and they all came in the 1980s, when the club played in the UEFA Cup.

After winning the Scottish Cup in 1987, they represented Scotland in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but have not played on the continent since.

Hibs will be the next side they have to navigate in order to keep that dream alive, and they are a side they have become accustomed to already this season, having faced off in league and cup.

It was against Hibs that St Mirren got their league campaign underway, winning 3-2 at Easter Road on the opening day, but they also crashed out of the League Cup there, losing 4-2 in their quarter-final.

Despite getting the better of St Mirren in that final eight encounter, Hibernian went on to lose their semi-final against Aberdeen in extremely disappointing circumstances.

There was very little between the sides for 75 minutes until Jack MacKenzie was sent off for the Dons, appearing to give Hibs a huge advantage.

However, just three minutes later, Nick Montgomery's side inexplicably fell behind after Bojan Miovski netted for Aberdeen, and they would hold on to win 1-0.

Another frustrating result means that the St Mirren quarter-final remains Hibs' last win, as they are now on a six-game winless streak.

Montgomery saw his side grind out an impressive 0-0 draw with Celtic, but in that time there have been defeats to Rangers and now Aberdeen, as well as draws with Ross County, Hearts and Dundee.

Hibs, therefore, find themselves down in eighth having only won two league games all season, but a victory here would move them up into the Championship Group.

St Mirren Scottish Premiership form:

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St Mirren form (all competitions):

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Hibernian Scottish Premiership form:

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Hibernian form (all competitions):

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Team News

Jonah Ayunga remains St Mirren's only injury absentee as the Kenyan continues to recover from an ACL injury.

Mikael Mandron could come back into the side up front as he dropped to the bench for the trip to Celtic despite scoring twice in their win over St Johnstone just days prior.

Conor McMenamin will look to impress again as he will have hopes of breaking into the Northern Ireland starting XI in this month's internationals.

The wide man scored his first international goal against San Marino last month, and netted the early opener for St Mirren at Celtic Park.

The visitors will be without former St Mirren player Jake Doyle-Hayes (ankle) and Chris Cadden (Achilles) for this trip to Paisley.

Manager Montgomery recently gave a positive update about Harry McKirdy, who has been suffering with health issues of late, but it is still too soon for him to make a return.

Veteran goalkeeper David Marshall returned to the side for the semi-final at the weekend, after Jojo Wollacott had featured in their previous league outing.

St Mirren possible starting lineup:

Hemming; Fraser, Gogic, Taylor; Strain, Boyd-Munce, O'Hara, Tanser; McMenamin, Olusanya, Kiltie

Hibernian possible starting lineup:

Marshall; Miller, Fish, Bushiri, Obita; Jair Tavares, Levitt, Newell, Youan; Boyle, Vente

We say: St Mirren 2-1 Hibernian

St Mirren have been hugely impressive so far this season, and if they can keep up their current form, a place in the Championship Group will be easily attainable.

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