On Saturday, St Mirren will welcome Kilmarnock to the SMISA Stadium in the final round of Scottish Premiership fixtures before the league splits in two.

The hosts, who occupy fifth position, are hoping to remain in the top half of the table, while Kilmarnock are languishing in 11th place.

Match preview

After picking up seven points from three matches, St Mirren were brought back down to earth when they faced Rangers at Ibrox last weekend.

St Mirren came from behind on two occasions thanks to a Mark O'Hara brace, but three Rangers goals in the final 11 minutes condemned Stephen Robinson's side to a disappointing 5-2 defeat.

The Buddies will have to pick themselves up as they look to secure their first top-half finish in the Scottish Premiership since 1985.

St Mirren know that a win will be enough to end their 38-year wait, but they could still advance into the top six of the split even if they draw or lose, depending on the result of the two games involving Hibernian and Livingston.

Having lost just three of their 16 home league games this season, Robinson's side will be confident of claiming a positive result on Saturday.

Like their hosts, Kilmarnock also head into the weekend's encounter off the back of a heavy defeat, after they were thumped 4-1 by Celtic last Sunday.

Kilmarnock are guaranteed to be in the bottom six for the final stretch of the season, with Derek McInnes's side residing in the relegation playoff spot.

Although they are only in the bottom two on goal difference, Kilmarnock are also just one point better off than basement side Ross County.

Killie have struggled at both ends of the pitch this season, registering just 27 goals in 32 games to leave them as the joint-lowest scorers in the top flight, while they share the worst defensive record with Dundee United after shipping 56 goals this term.

With two points to show from their 16 away games, Kilmarnock are the only Scottish Premiership side yet to win an away league game in the 2022-23 campaign, and they will need to improve on their road in the run-in if they are to move out of the bottom two.

Team News

St Mirren are still unable to call upon long-term absentee Richard Tait, who has been out of action since October.

Robinson is hopeful that Keanu Baccus will be fit to feature on Saturday after the Australia international missed the defeat to Rangers with a hamstring problem.

O'Hara was top scorer for St Mirren this season, and the midfielder will be looking to add to the seven league goals that he has scored this season when he leads the line on Saturday.

As for the visitors, Innes Cameron and Chris Stokes are expected to miss out, and they are joined on the sidelines by Ben Chrisene, who suffered an injury setback when he was forced off on his return to action in a midweek reserve game.

Liam Polworth also featured in the reserve fixture against Motherwell, and after playing 75 minutes, he could be fit enough to appear in Saturday's matchday squad.

After serving a two-match suspension, Rory McKenzie is expected to feature in the Kilmarnock starting lineup.

St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Carson; Fraser, Shaughnessy, Dunne; Strain, Baccus, Gogic, O'Hara, Small; Watt, Main

Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:
Walker; Mayo, Wright, Dorsett; Armstrong, Watson, Donnelly, McKenzie, Chambers; Doidge, Vassell

We say: St Mirren 2-1 Kilmarnock

The previous two meetings between the two sides this season have finished in goalless draws, but we think that the hosts will claim a narrow victory over a Kilmarnock side who have lost 14 of their 16 away league games this season.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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