Quite simply this is must win. Hearts will be our relegation rivals (you can pretty much forget the top six already) and our poor start to the season now means we have absolutely no margin for error. A win tomorrow would hurt them as they bid to claw back their 15 point penalty and give us a huge boost going into the break, but a defeat would be a massive blow for us and could spell the end of Danny Lennon. They're not in the best of form, having failed to win in four (or five depending on your views on penalty shoot-outs) but you can guarantee they'll be up for this as we're the team just above them in the table.
The fact the Hearts survival special may end up sending us down is an extra incentive for their fans. Many of them are still bitter about us supposedly lying down to Celtic in 1986, despite the fact most of said fans weren't born and their own team bottled it at Dundee. There's also the small issue of last year's League Cup Final, which we won after being battered for the first half hour. Sending us down while they stay up with their points penalty would surely be the perfect revenge.
We saw a fair bit of improvement from Saints in Monday's game against Aberdeen, even if we didn't get the win. Just about everyone selected was in their correct position, which helped, and there was a lot more fight and commitment than has been evident in recent weeks. OK, we still conceded a late goal and it cost us, but there were encouraging signs. However, we need to see more of that tomorrow to show that it wasn't a blip and things are finally on the right track. Against the Dons the players began to win back the fans - now it's time for them to start winning some games.
Perhaps the best way to go about that would be to stick with the same team we saw on Monday night. It seemed to work, the only real problem once again being in the final third with not much created and Steven Thompson looking a bit isolated at times. However, as this is an away game we're probably unlikely to see a more attacking team! Sean Kelly did enough to keep Danny Grainger out of the side, while the defensive partnership of Darren McGregor and Lee Mair did just fine. The midfield didn't do badly either, so there really is no reason to change despite Grainger being available again. Marc McAusland is still injured, as is David Barron.
Most Saints fans probably breathed a sigh of relief when Hearts were docked 15 points in the summer. Surely that advantage going into the season would mean that, for once, we didn't need to bother about relegation. Sadly for us, it's not quite worked out like that, and not just because of our poor form. The administration and financial turmoil seems to have generated some togetherness at Tynecastle, with gaffer Gary Locke leading the way, and they have gone about Mission: Impossible with terrific gusto. Suddenly avoiding the play-offs, let alone bottom spot, is looking a pretty realistic possibility. They've already knocked eight points off their penalty and the poor start by the likes of ourselves and Kilmarnock will only have given them even more hope.
While the media are taking great delight in the Hearts story and their chase of the rest of the pack, they have been rather quiet on the actions of the administrators, which - like most things at Tynecastle in the last few years - have beggared belief. Despite the huge debts the only players who were booted out were ones who were out on loan or who were leaving anyway, while the club made a desperate plea for cash before rejecting offers for Jason Holt from Nottingham Forest. The midfielder is one of the leading lights of the talented youngsters currently making up the Hearts team and it probably benefits the player that he's getting regular action rather than playing in the reserves, but it doesn't exactly help the people that are owed money.
Neither does the rather bizarre signing of Danny Wilson which the SPL somehow allowed to go through. Hearts have been under a rather strict transfer embargo since January, which was made a blanket signing ban after they went into administration. By that point they'd already announced they were signing Wilson, who spent the second half of last season on loan at the Jambos from Liverpool, but they hadn't been able to register him. Some paperwork jiggery pokery later and suddenly he was registered, which seemed rather unfair - particularly on those who had lost their jobs.
Wilson is one of the few experienced players in the squad, even though he's only 21. Ryan Stevenson has weirdly stuck around, despite being rather vocal about the lack of wages during his first spell at the club a few years back, but he's had a few injury problems. Jamie Hamill is back from the injury that kept him out for much of last season. Goalie Jamie MacDonald has been about for a few years and is a decent keeper, so having him rather than an inexperienced youngster is good news.
As for the rest of the team, you may have heard of the likes of Holt and Scott Robinson before last season, while Dylan McGowan and the versatile Callum Paterson were pretty heavily involved last term. The rest will probably be pretty unfamiliar, most having only been given their chance when the money problems really hit home in January. Jamie Walker looks a terrific winger, Kevin McHattie has done well at leftback despite Hearts having the cheek to appeal his blatant red card, with Brad McKay, Callum Tapping and Jordan McGhee also impressing. Dale Carrick, Billy King and David Smith are the only other striking options, aside from Paterson and Stevenson of course.
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