St Mirren

St Mirren have suffered a double injury blow after captain Mark O'Hara and Premier Sports Cup final hero Jonah Ayunga were both ruled out for at least two months.

Striker Ayunga - who scored twice against Celtic at Hampden - went off injured in Tuesday's defeat by Rangers, while O'Hara - who has not started a game since early November - has suffered a setback in training.

With Keanu Baccus also out with a long-term injury, the Buddies are down to the bare bones.

"Jonah's had a scan, not good news," manager Stephen Robinson said. "Jonah's going to be at least a couple of months out with a tendon injury.

"Mark O'Hara, who obviously had a foot problem, he got a kick in in the last minute of the training session before Rangers and he's going to be out the same, probably two to three months with an ankle injury.

"Keanu Baccus is obviously a longer term, two to three months as well. So big blows for us in terms of the injury front.

"Jonah was in good form as well, playing really, really well. But unfortunately, quite innocuous, he's pulled up in one of his runs at Ibrox and we had a scan very quickly. So unfortunately, when there's tendons involved in these injuries, you just can't take any chances or it ends up being surgery.

"Mark has got a couple of tears in his ankle ligaments from the incident in training as well.

"We try and make sure people step up and they've had their opportunities limited probably by the form of the people we're speaking about. So it's time for them to step up.

"They'll knock on my office door, they'll tell me they should be playing. So let's hope they do."

Robinson is keen to make January signings to boost his depleted squad and says he will have to use academy players to make up the numbers against Motherwell on Saturday.

"We're very, very low on bodies, even just to fill the bench," the Northern Irishman said. "It could be a couple of 16-year-olds in the squad – good 16-year-olds, by the way, Luke Douglas and Jack Lavery.

"But we are actively looking. We're speaking to people in the positions we're speaking about, the forward positions and midfield. But that's proven rather difficult at the moment to get people in. But we'll continue to do that and see where we can take it."

Sportscene pundits Scott Allan and Billy Dodds discuss St Mirren's performance in the 2-1 defeat against Rangers at Ibrox.

Watch the best of the action from Ibrox as Rangers - who visit Old Firm rivals Celtic on Saturday - narrowed the gap on the top two with a 2-1 win over St Mirren. (Available to UK users only)

Rangers secured their first win over St Mirren in more than a year to end 2025 within six points of Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts and within three of Celtic before Saturday's second Old Firm game of the season in the league.

Read the match report

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St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson tells BBC Scotland: "Real frustration with the two goals. We spoke about it and worked on the threat Fernandez has and we made two poor decisions for both goals.

"I didn't think Shamal had a whole lot to do and Jack Butland was man of the match. I thought we were excellent second half. Once we started believing, we dominated large parts of the game without Rangers being a major threat.

"People miss penalties. I think it's the first one Marcus has missed in his career. It isn't one person's fault. Our performance was very good second half, but we come away with nothing because we didn't do the easy bits of the game.

"We have what we have to work with. We have to be better in small moments."

Andrew Christie
Fan writer

The spectre of not being able to break down a low block is still looming over us like the big scary Muppet over Michael Caine last week.

Saturday was an annoyingly missed chance to prove we'd moved past it. Kilmarnock arrived second-bottom, winless since October and we knew exactly what was coming: 10 men behind the ball, compact lines, organised resistance. Yet, we couldn't find a way past it.

We dominated almost everything measurable. Possession. Territory. Entries into the final third. Forty-seven crosses. Eleven corners. If you'd looked at the heat maps afterward, the area around Killie's box would resemble Jackson Pollock's Walkman.

They defended deep. Lines squeezed tight, the space between defence and goalkeeper effectively theoretical. And to be fair, it was disciplined. Their shape rarely broke. Lanes were blocked, second balls contested, crosses met by a forest of bodies.

We moved the ball patiently, but the pattern became familiar: circulate, shift wide, cross, repeat. Against a block that compact, width alone isn't enough - you need the killer pass, the moment of genuine quality that forces defenders to move rather than simply absorb impact.

Chances did come. Dan Nlundulu's close-range effort is usually a goal, but Oluwayemi produced a reaction save worthy of any point. Score there and the game opens; Killie have to emerge, space appears, oxygen enters the match. We never got that breakthrough.

Jayden Richardson's introduction lifted the tempo. Conor McMenamin drifting centrally asked different questions. Effort was relentless. Structure held. And on a different day we could have been awarded a couple of penalties. What we lacked was incision: the cut-back instead of the cross, the disguised pass instead of the obvious one.

Two weeks ago - before Aberdeen, before the reset - this is a game we lose. Scrappy breakaway, collective wobble, frustration tipping into chaos as Kilmarnock briefly remember they're allowed in our half. Instead, we stayed composed. No overcommitting. No panic. Third clean sheet on the bounce. Five unbeaten.

This team is managing games better now. Controlling territory, limiting risk, refusing to self sabotage. If the loudest complaint is "we dominated but couldn't quite score", that's irritation, not crisis. Fine tuning, not fundamental failure.

Rangers on Tuesday will present a very different picture. They won't pitch a tent in their own box and refuse to engage with society. They have their own problems and will be anxious to remedy them in front of an easily turned Ibrox. But we go there unbeaten, organised, and carrying that cup-winning, Celtic-beating swagger.

The spectre remains.

But it's shrinking.

Andrew Christie can be found at Misery Hunters, external

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Rangers defender Nasser Djiga is on Africa Cup of Nations duty.

Oliver Antman, Nedim Bajrami, Derek Cornelius and Rabbi Matondo remain out.

St Mirren are missing the injured Keanu Baccus.

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• Rangers are winless in their last four league meetings with St Mirren (D2 L2); only in November 1904 and August 1984 have they ever gone five without a win over the Buddies.

• St Mirren won their last league visit to Rangers 2-0 in February last season, but have never won successive such trips, with this their 126th in league competition.

• Rangers have only lost their final league game once in the last eight calendar years (W5 D2), going down 2-1 to Celtic in 2023. When facing a side other than Old Firm rivals Celtic to round off a year, the Gers have only lost their final league game once in the last 31 years (W26 D4), losing 4-0 to Hibernian in the Scottish Championship in 2014.

• St Mirren have only won their final league game in one of the last five calendar years (D1 L3), beating Aberdeen 1-0 in 2023.

• Only Alexandros Kyziridis (45) has created more chances in the Scottish Premiership this season than both Rangers' James Tavernier (36) and St Mirren's Declan John (30).

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Alex Gogic (St Mirren): Adept in both midfield and defence for St Mirren, another starting berth for this team of the week stalwart.

Clean sheet and more than played his part in the stalemate against Kilmarnock.

Watch highlights of St Mirren's 0-0 draw against Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership. (Available to UK users only)

We asked for your views on St Mirren's 0-0 draw against Kilmarnock.

Here's what some of you said:

Ali: Hard to compare to last year's post-Christmas game, an emphatic win against Rangers, this year's game feels like post-Christmas indigestion. We were nowhere near clinical enough on the finish but to the testament of Killie, they felt impossible to break through. Hopefully better luck and more clinical finishing at Ibrox next week.

John: Well, the post-cup final hangover finally arrived. We were poor in every department, forcing only one excellent save from the Killie keeper. The longer things went on at 0-0 the more the crowd became frustrated and anxious, fearing another last-minute nicking of all three points by Killie as per the recent Celtic game in Paisley. However, at least we took a point. In truth, that is all we deserved.

Stuart: Can't play this poorly against a second-bottom side if we want out of the relegation dogfight. With early and plenty of substitutions, Stephen Robinson is clearly just as frustrated as fans. Two penalty claims ignored so the referee is consistent at least.

Kilmarnock's long wait for a Scottish Premiership win has extended to nearly three months after a pulsating goalless draw at St Mirren.

Read the full match report here.

Have your say here.

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St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson: "Frustration [is the main emotion]. We had so much of the ball, so much of the build. Our final decision was the reason that we don't take all three points.

"We totally dominated the game. We didn't land a lot of second balls first-half but we still delivered loads of balls, 47 balls into the box, 47 crosses, and we haven't managed to get on the end of any of them.

"Some of the quality of them could be better. Some of the movement could be better. It's just frustrating that we got into really good areas, had a great chance, but their goalkeeper, makes a fantastic save.

"We deserved to win the game, I thought we had a lot of ownership of the game.

"Killie offered a threat on the counter-attack. They've got some good players at the top end of the pitch, but the overriding emotion is probably frustration with that amount of the ball, that amount of chances, that amount of crosses. But if you're not clinical, then you don't get the three points.

"The positive is we've gone five unbeaten now in all competitions, and that's our third clean sheet in a row in the league. So that's a real positive for us and we want to keep that run going."

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St Mirren remain without Keanu Baccus with a long-term hamstring problem but the midfielder does not require surgery.

Klimarnock defender Robbie Deas is suspended and striker Marley Watkins remains doubtful.

Max Stryjek (heart), Kyle Magennis (knee), Jamie Brandon (ankle/groin), Djenairo Daniels (knee) and Matty Kennedy (hip) remain out.

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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If last season was a nightmare for St Mirren's Conor McMenamin, this term has been the stuff of dreams.

Knee and Achilles injuries kept the 30-year-old out of action for four months from mid-December and he ended the campaign having made just 11 appearances.

McMenamin has surpassed that total already this season, picking up a League Cup winner's medal in the process, and is now targeting a return to international football with Northern Ireland.

The Buddies number 10 has been used predominantly at right wing-back lately under manager Stephen Robinson.

"I was obviously a bit naive to the whole position. Gradually I'm getting better at that and that comes with playing games," said McMenamin.

"On the training pitch, the coaches work with me on certain things both in the defensive and attacking side of it.

"So it's all about taking chances because we've got a great squad there and you know if you're not doing well, somebody's there to replace you. It keeps everyone on their toes."

McMenamin started at right wing-back in St Mirren's league wins over Dundee United and Livingston and in the cup final triumph over Celtic.

"When that final whistle went in the cup final, you forget about the injuries and all the hard work you've done to get back as long as the team wins, that's the most important thing," he added.

"My ultimate goal is just to try and stay in the team and hopefully help the team win."

McMenamin also has his heart set on adding to his 14 Northern Ireland caps, especially with a World Cup play-off coming up against Italy in March.

"As soon as the final whistle went last week, I got back to my phone and all the staff at Northern Ireland were congratulating me and wishing the team and everyone all the best," he said.

"I've had a lot of injuries the last couple of years, but the pinnacle for any footballer is to play for their country. And I'm no different.

"I love playing for Northern Ireland. The main goal for me heading into the next few weeks here is to try and cement my seat on that plane for Italy.

"It'll be a really tough match but it's one that I think we can go and win. "

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Stephen Robinson has been speaking to the media before St Mirren host Kilmarnock in the Premiership this weekend.

Here are the key points from the Buddies boss:

• Robinson says the club have had an "acknowledgment" from the Scottish FA that Jonah Ayunga's disallowed goal against Livingston last weekend should have stood. The manager adds: "I think everybody in the stadium knew it was wrong. But we managed to win the game outwith that anyway. So that's what we have to concentrate on."

• St Mirren's recent history with VAR decisions has curtailed goal celebrations: "You stop celebrating because you're expecting things now... we still have to do what we do and you hope that they get more decisions right than they're getting wrong."

• On the January transfer window, Robinson says there are "certain areas" he is keen to improve and the board will support signings who can "make the team stronger" but the "challenge" is to find players who are "better than what's here".

• On the League Cup win making players targets for bigger clubs, Robinson says Miguel Freckleton and Killian Phillips have been attracting "a lot of attention" but St Mirren "don't need to sell".

• He adds: "You're never in control. You're always at the mercy of the bigger clubs. We are a club where the model is to sell footballers. The model is to produce boys and sell them either at an earlier age or develop them and sell them and we need that just to exist and survive. We will sell people on our terms when the money is right for the club to take that and reinvest it back into the football club."

• On whether the cup win will attract new supporters to the club: "I think the last three-and-a-half years has been a steady increase. The amount of people we took to the cup final, we'd love that to be every week. We believe we've gained some younger fans, some fans that maybe haven't been in the area for a little while as well and they're enjoying watching this team play."

• Keanu Baccus' hamstring injury does not require surgery but he will be out for eight to 10 weeks. Robinson hopes the midfielder recovers in time to make Australia's World Cup squad: "If you rush it, then it could end up requiring surgery which would put him out for the rest of the season. We're confident he'll come back stronger. He's defied the odds many, many times. He's a big loss for us but we're hoping he times that run to come back and ends up in that Australian World Cup squad as well which would be fantastic for him."

• Playing against Kilmarnock is "a bit of a local derby" and St Mirren aim to "keep building on our recent results and good performances. It's another chance to claw some ground back on the teams above us."

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• After their 5-1 victory in March last season, St Mirren could earn back-to-back home wins over Kilmarnock in the top flight for the first time since March 2012.

• Kilmarnock have only lost one of their past 12 Scottish Premiership meetings with St Mirren (W6 D5), keeping seven clean sheets in this period, including in a 2-0 win most recently in October.

• St Mirren have dropped more points from winning positions (14) than any other team in the Premiership this season, while they have also recovered the fewest points (1) from losing positions.

• Since the start of October, only Livingston (0.4) have a lower points per game ratio than Kilmarnock (0.42) in the Premiership, winning just five points from their 12 matches in this period (W1 D2 L9).

• St Mirren have made the fewest changes to their starting XI (26) in the top flight this season, while only three side have made more than Kilmarnock (49).

Andrew Christie
Fan writer

For St Mirren, the 2025/26 season has thus far been one of swings and roundabouts.

Over on the swing, you have VAR officials smashing the "disallow goal" button like they're Fred Again at Glastonbury. On the roundabout, you have Stephen Robinson hanging off a bus on Gauze Street with the League Cup trophy.

A day after our dominant, should-have-been-more, why-is-he-holding-his-face-there, 1-0 win over David Martindale's struggling Livingston, the Saints paraded the 2025 League Cup trophy through central Paisley on an open-top bus.

By the end of the weekend, it was obvious something had shifted. Not just in the trophy cabinet or the league table, but in that harder-to-measure sense where the mood around a club just feels… different. Lighter. Less brittle. Like everyone's shoulders have dropped half an inch.

Yes, there was a game in there, and yes, St Mirren were pretty good in it. Good in a focused, quietly determined way. This was meant to be the awkward comedown - the post-cup fog where legs are heavy, breath is beery, and minds are elsewhere - but instead it felt purposeful, assured, oddly composed.

The football didn't look like a hangover; it looked like a team that had absorbed what it had achieved and refocused. That alone felt significant.

Then you add the rest of the weekend. The bus, the crowds, the cup glinting in winter light as it rolled through Paisley. Scarves held high along every street. The kind of noise that bounces off buildings. Players looking less like distant professionals and more like lads who'd done something properly meaningful for the place they represent. It all bled together - the performance, the celebration, the sense of shared ownership - into something bigger than either moment on its own.

That's why the league season suddenly feels like it's beginning now. Not restarting, not being rescued, just settling. The cup didn't distract from the campaign; it clarified it.

St Mirren look more certain of themselves, and so does everyone around them. The football's the same, the fixtures keep coming - but the noise in the background has changed. And sometimes, that's everything.

Andrew Christie can be found at Misery Hunters, external

St Mirren fans haven't been short of reasons to rage at VAR intervention this season.

And there was yet more controversy on Saturday as Jonah Ayunga's opener against Livingston was ruled out because Dan Nlundulu's arm brushed against the face of Daniel Finlayson in the build-up.

Sportscene pundit Neil McCann said Saints had every right to feel aggrieved, saying the VAR "just shouldn't be getting involved" in the incident and it was not a "clear and obvious error".

At least it didn't cost Stephen Robinson's team points as they eventually found the breakthrough with a Mikael Mandron strike to keep the momentum rolling after their historic League Cup triumph.

Watch highlights as St Mirren win 1-0 against Livingston in the Scottish Premiership.

We asked for your views on St Mirren's 1-0 win against Livingston.

Here's what some of you said:

Michael: Once again the story seems to be yet again about VAR. We are told that this will even out over the season but the real question is when?

Good performance and good follow up to their Cup victory but it did seem to be hard work. Solid performance from a solid St Mirren team. Alex Gogic in midfield is a masterstroke by Stephen Robinson. Classic case of poacher turned gamekeeper?

Iain: Yet another perfectly good St Mirren goal ruled out by VAR, "These things even themselves out." - aye, that will be right! We're three years into this fiasco and St Mirren still seem to get cheated by VAR all the time.

Ali: Seems like we're back to business as usual with VAR. I can't help but feel the VAR team are scanning for any reason to disallow goals. Completely kills the joy of celebrating a goal when you are waiting for the inevitable call over to the monitor. Luckily we have points to celebrate but still, this is starting to feel far too common.

Alistair: Comfortable win for the Cup champions but once again officials have not done their job, you won't eliminate play acting when it offers so much reward.

John: Ground out an important win against an opponent that simply wasn't interested in playing football.

What is the point of Livi? Cynical and, at times, outright cheating, condoned by VAR. Saints should have won more convincingly, but seemed a bit flat at times, given last week's heroics. Still, they saw it through and picked up a deserved three points. Onwards and upwards.

Peter: Vital three points well earned by Saints. Very difficult to play against a team whose tactics are to stop the play by any means. The disallowed goal should have stood according to everyone at the game and all the commentators.