How have we managed to get to three games from the end of the season and still not be officially safe? We were 15 points clear of Dundee at one point and 13 clear going into the split. They have suddenly come to life while we have rather belatedly realised we are in a relegation battle after all. The gap is still eight points and our goal difference is far better, so a single draw will get us over the line. It should be relatively straightforward but this is St Mirren we're talking about - and the longer it goes without us putting things to bed the more the nerves will increase and the more nonsense we'll hear from John Brown.
Tomorrow is the first time we've faced Hearts since we beat them in the League Cup Final at Hampden. There will be a lot of talk about them gunning for revenge and originally I'd been going to say there was little chance of that as a victory in the league cannot possibly wipe away the disappointment of losing a cup final. However, if they did beat us tomorrow it probably would get rid of some of the pain as it would increase our relegation worries. That, and the fact some of their fans still go on about us apparently lying down to Celtic in 1986, should ensure they are fired up to put us in trouble and leave us hoping Aberdeen can avoid defeat at Dens Park on Sunday.
It used to be the case that we went to Tynecastle and regularly came away with a decent result. However, the last time we won there was back at the end of 2007 when Stephen McGinn scored and we've only managed a few draws since. Our poor away record this season makes it unlikely that we'll get a win tomorrow, but last week against Hibs we did manage to avoid defeat in the capital for the first time in the current campaign. Do that again tomorrow and we can finally relax in the knowledge that we'll be playing SPL football again next season.
If we are to cause Hearts problems we have to go with a regular front two. We played Steven Thompson up front on his own to begin with in the cup final and it didn't work, while we did the same at Easter Road last week and it was also poor for the first half. Play Thompson alongside Esmael Goncalves and we should have a bit more success. Isma has scored three goals in his last four games and in the other one he won us a dubious penalty, so he is in good form at the moment. We could do with Thompson getting back on song as well, although I don't care who scores as long as we get the result we need!
It'll be interesting to see what happens in defence tomorrow with Jim Goodwin still out suspended. Graham Carey played at leftback last week with Paul Dummett in the middle and while Danny Lennon may go with that again, he does have the option of Lee Mair if he wants to use it. Carey seems to like scoring against Hearts but with the Jambos having a more physical strikeforce the presence of Mair alongside goal machine Marc McAusland may be the better choice. That'll probably be the only change as it'll probably be the same midfield, although there could be changes on the bench if Dougie Imrie is brought in from the cold. Darren McGregor, Thomas Reilly and David Barron are of course still out.
There's a fair chance the Hearts side we face tomorrow will be rather different to the one we come up against next season. It looks like Vladimir Romanov's rather crazy reign at Tynecastle is coming to an end as he's willing to sell the club, not that he has much say in things with his assets apparently frozen. A fans' takeover would be the best thing that could happen to the Jambos, providing they can get the debts under control. Whoever is running the club, it's likely that a lot of the high earning pros will be shown the door, meaning manager Gary Locke - who replaced John McGlynn after we beat Hearts in February - will be forced to mix cheaper recruits with some talented youngsters.
One of those players who many people think will be let go is John Sutton, although he does have another year left on his contract. The former Buddie hasn't had the best of times since moving to the Jambos two years ago, being so far out of the picture at one stage he was even punted on loan to Australia. If we could afford him I'd probably take him back, but he seems to have rediscovered his form since Locke took charge and that could be enough for him to be kept on. Despite his versatility Darren Barr is being let go, with injured club captain Marius Zaliukas another player likely to be released. Ryan Stevenson - who was superb against us in the cup final - will almost certainly be kept on to provide some goals in midfield. Mehdi Taouill also caused us some problems before being subbed and should do a decent job for Locke.
But if the new Hearts boss is forced to field a team of kids next year he already has the makings of a good side, which will be even better once Callum Paterson and Scott Robinson get themselves fit. Jamie Walker was terrific in the cup final and Jason Holt is also highly rated, with Callum Tapping having some pedigree after starting his career at Spurs. Dylan McGowan - whose brother Ryan was sold in January - also seems to have the makings of a good player, as have defenders Kevin McHattie and Fraser Mullen. The one position Hearts have really struggled in over the last few years is up front and it remains to be seen whether the likes of Billy King can finally fix that problem.
Admittedly, things have been helped in the last few months with the arrival of Michael Ngoo. His age meant Hearts could bring him in from Liverpool despite being under a transfer embargo and he has looked reasonable if a little raw and rash. Danny Wilson was also borrowed from Liverpool and has slotted in well at the back alongside Andy Webster, who is suspended for tomorrow's match. Fellow defender Jamie Hamill is finally back fit after missing both of Hearts' cup finals in the last year. Whatever happens over the summer there will be a familiar face in goal, Jamie MacDonald being decent enough despite the reservations of a few Hearts supporters.
Follow Mirren Mad on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mirrenmad
Follow Mirren Mad on Twitter @mirren_mad or http://www.twitter.com/mirren_mad