Queen of the South v Saints Preview (again)

Last updated : 09 September 2005 By Stuart Gillespie
Last time out we managed to win 2-1 in the League Challenge Cup, but tomorrow is the far more important business of the league. There will probably be several changes to the Saints lineup, with Kirk Broadfoot back from under 21 duty whilst Kevin McGowne should be back after his rest, Billy Mehmet is back, whilst new signings Charlie Adam and John Sutton will be more familiar with their new surroundsings and team mates and be a bit fitter.

In reality, Broadfoot and McGowne are the only ones guaranteed to start. The involvment of the other two depends on the formation we use. If we go with three up front again it's hard to see Adam being a starter, although Sutton or Mehmet might. If it's a 3-5-2, Adam could well start in place of Simon Lappin, which would be a relief to all as the former Scotland under 21 international has been poor for a quite a while.

Elsewhere in the team, Mark Reilly is still injured and will miss out, as will Ryan McCay. Craig Hinchcliffe is kind of fit and will probably find himself a place warming the bench, with Chris Smith once again deputising for him.

Queen of the South will be desperate to get their first league win of the season tomorrow, but will have to do so without former Saints man John O'Neill. That's a bit of a relief, as he scored a double for us against them (who he had left a few months previously) in his first season at Love Street and could well have inflicted the same treatment!

A win tomorrow could put Saints top of the table, although that's unlikely as it would need a few other results to go our way. It would also mean we had won our last four away games, which is extremely unlikely. We always struggle against teams looking for their first win so I predict a 1-0 win for the Doonhammers.