One league win along with three cup successes - one against Celtic - don't make for particularly good reading, but that's our record at St. Mirren Park in 2009. A win over Aberdeen would improve it slightly, but it won't disguise the fact it's been pretty horrendous all round. There have been missed opportunities and moments of bad luck - like when the Dons scored a last minute equaliser earlier in the year - but, aside from the Celtic game, it's been a year to forget in Ferguslie Park. 2010 can't be any worse.
That's certainly what Gus MacPherson will be hoping as he prepares for one of the biggest games in his managerial career. Saturday's disappointing defeat to St. Johnstone has seen the pressure cranked up another notch, with an increasing number of fans believing it is time for a change at the top. The home record detailed above, along with a run of two points in eight games, are the main reasons for the ire, along with odd substitutions and tactics. A win on Saturday would allow the pressure to subside, although we've been here numerous times before. A big improvement is needed over the next few games, but it cannot be a flash in the pan - it must be sustained for at least a few months.
Assuming no one gets food poisoning from their turkey, we should have the same squad available to us as we did for the visit to Perth. Hopefully the manager can use it in a slightly more constructive way. If Jack Ross is still out, we must play David Barron at right-back and bring in Mo Camara, even though he's not very good. It makes more sense than playing Lee Mair there. I'd quite like to see Billy Mehmet continue in midfield, but Michael Higdon's suspension means he'll almost certainly rejoin Craig Dargo up front.
The rest of the team will probably stay the same, although it would be great to see one of Stephen O'Donnell or Steven McGinn (or even both) in midfield to operate as a winger. On the injury front, we're without Allan Johnston, Andy Dorman, Tom Brighton and Chris Smith, who can all keep the suspended Higdon company in the stand.
Aberdeen suffered a defeat to Hibs on Saturday but, having seen the highlights, I'm not quite sure how Mark McGhee's men failed to take anything from the game.. They played well for most of the game and should have scored a few goals but wasted their chances (sound familiar?). The suspension of Lee Miller for Saturday's trip to Paisley is unlikely to improve things in that regard, although Darren Mackie does have an annoying habit of scoring against us with alarming regularity. Sone Aluko can cause us problems - especially if he's up against Mair or Camara - but is struggling with injury.
One thing we have to be on our guard for is Charlie Mulgrew's delivery from set-pieces. He can take a fantastic free-kick and anyone giving one away around the edge of the box is just asking for trouble. He's also rather good at crossing and our lack of height at the back could cause us big problems in that regard. The likes of Zander Diamond and Andrew Considine are a good aerial threat at set pieces, and I can remember seeing the latter score twice in a game on two separate occasions.
Our record against Aberdeen over the past few seasons is even worse than our home form of 2009 as we've managed just three against them in three and a bit seasons. They seem to have a bit of a hoodoo over us and have managed to score a number of late goals that have denied us crucial points. It can't be allowed to happen again on Saturday.