St Mirren

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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St Mirren packed their team with big, powerful players and Stephen Robinson was perhaps thinking that to get the better of Killie on their own patch you first need to win the physical battle.

However, his team was lacking in creativity and struggled to generate meaningful chances.

Toyosi Olusanya was unable to make any sort of impact on the game, getting little change out the Killie defence.

Roland Idowu had a couple of nice touches early on without creating anything clear cut before fading and being hooked early in the second half.

We know how tough a proposition St Mirren are at their best, but here they fell well short of their own standards.

Clive Lindsay
BBC Sport Scotland

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Toyosi Olusanya has turned his St Mirren career around since making such an awful debut that the former Middlesbrough striker was quickly shipped off to Arbroath on loan.

So much so that the 27-year-old was offered a contract extension in November and will have attracted more admiring glances after terrorising the visiting defence with his speed and power in last week's 2-1 win over Rangers.

Olusanya is, though, just one of a host of players who have contracts running down, with Richard Taylor looking a class act in central defence and Killian Phillips impressing with his work-rate in midfield.

Meanwhile, centre-half Charles Dunne had only joined on a short-term deal until this month as injury cover.

Others out of contract in Paisley: Declan John, defender; Elvis Bwomono, defender; Luke Kenny, defender; Caolan Boyd-Munce, midfielder; Dennis Adeniran, midfielder (extra year option); Conor McMenamin, forward; Jonah Ayunga, forward; Mikael Mandron, forward.

Read more: Premiership summer free agents facing uncertain January

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Owen Oseni says joining St Mirren was a "no-brainer" after he sought out Roland Idowu and Richard Taylor for the lowdown on the club.

The striker, 21, has joined the Buddies for an undisclosed fee from English National League club Gateshead on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

Oseni began his career in Ireland with Waterford FC - where he was a team-mate of Taylor and Idowu - before joining Derby County in 2023.

After a loan spell at National League North Rushall Olympic during the second half of last season, he joined Gateshead in the summer and has scored 13 goals in 28 games this term.

"I'm really buzzing to get here," said Oseni. "In terms of where the club is heading and its aspirations, it just aligns with mine.

"I spoke to Roland and Richard and they played a part in making my decision to come here. It was a no-brainer after they told me. It makes the transition smooth when you see a couple of familiar faces.

"The manager likes my play style and he thinks I can come into the squad and really help the team push on and achieve the goals that we've set.

"I feel like I can bring a lot of pace up front. I'm direct, I like to get in behind defenders and hopefully I can bring goals as well."

Manager Stephen Robinson was thrilled to beat "numerous clubs" to the 21-year-old's signature.

"He's a goalscorer, he can run in behind and he's a project that we feel is similar to Toyosi Olusanya when he came to the club," said Robinson.

"We will improve him the more he trains with us, and he will become a big asset to the club."

Mark Jardine
Fam writer

As Thornton Wilder once wrote: "we can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."

With 2024 coming to a close, this feels like an appropriate forum to welcome in the new year with a positive-vibes-only and of-course-you'll-shift-those-pigs-in-blankets-pounds-in-January mindset. Think not of this as a eulogy of the year that was, but a love letter for all it contained. Strap yourselves in.

Last minute winners over Neil Warnock's Aberdeen, St Johnstone in Perth, Ross County in Dingwall and Rangers in Paisley.

Sealing European qualification: 37 long years in the making, delivered with time to spare.

Toyosi Olusanya's Redemption: initially struggling to make an impact in Paisley or on loan, the emergence of Olusanya as a consistent goal threat has made 2024 his year.

Academy breakthroughs: many of the St Mirren academy's recent successes have come at a time when the club is in a trough and the space for proving oneself is more available. That Fraser Taylor, Evan Mooney, Calum Penman and Luke Kenny have stepped into a top half side in front of more experience professionals is remarkable in itself, not to mention their significant impact.

Cologne gathering: the atmosphere in Germany's fourth largest city on the 19t June was remarkable enough, as six figures worth of Scots descended on the city centre for their second Euros fixture. However, the day takes pride of place on this list for the gathering of what felt like hundreds of Saints fans in Joe Champs sports bar, east of the Rhine. Nothing kicks off a full day's sun-soaked revelry like cheering the Conference League draw over a pint or five, and watching the instant panicked searching of flights to Reykjavik.

European nights: Icelandic and Norwegian travel stories will now be pub and bus conversation fodder for multiple generations of Saints fans. Full pubs for three nights, spa trips, volcano spotting, sideways Norwegian rain and mutual hospitality. The relief of overcoming Valur in Paisley, the eruption following Olusanya's equaliser versus Brann and the remarkable battle in Norway. Memories to last a lifetime.

McGinn's return: like ravens at the Tower of London, life as a St Mirren fan only ever feels correct when there is a McGinn in Ralston or Ferguslie. Last seen delivering promotion and securing subsequent safety as club captain, recently-retired Stephen made his return to the club this year as an academy coach. With the previously mentioned Mooney and Penman already troubling the senior team sheet, 2025 could well be a year of further joy.

This is but a taste of what has been a superb year to follow the Saints. If 2025 can deliver half as much cause for gratitude, you'll get another one of these love letters in 12 months time.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

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• Kilmarnock are unbeaten across their last nine Scottish Premiership meetings with St Mirren (W4 D5) since a 0-2 defeat in February 2021.

• St Mirren are winless in their last 11 top-flight away games at Kilmarnock (D4 L7) since a 3-1 victory in May 2013 under Danny Lennon.

• Kilmarnock lost their first league game of 2024 3-1 to Rangers, but haven't lost their opening top-flight match in back-to-back years since 2007/2008.

• St Mirren have only won their first January match of a year in the top-flight in one of their last 11 attempts (D3 L7), a 2-1 victory over Dundee United in 2022.

• Kilmarnock's Derek McInnes has lost just one of his 33 managerial top-flight matches against St Mirren (W15 D17), and none of 15 such games at home to the Buddies (W8 D7).

With the January transfer window fast approaching, where does your club need to strengthen?

Who do you want brought in and who - if anyone - is it time to ship out?

Tell us your dream transfer window, external

We asked for your views on St Mirren 2-1 defeat against Dundee.

Here's what some of you said:

Douglas: They hardly complimented each other, but if Thursday was the yin, Sunday definitely wasn't the yang! Two entirely different opponents, and against Dundee, it wasn't pretty. Maybe two games in four days was too much for some of the players but they looked tired and there was a lack of focus. A lost opportunity but we move onto the next game and hope!

Ian: The game is gone, get it out of our system. Rest, recover, re-group and get ourselves mentally right for Thursday. We are still in the mix. It was a game that was always going to be tricky.

Craig: Another home match and another opponent coming to us and bypassing their midfield, absolutely brutal to watch Dundee, Tony Docherty is definitely from the Derek McInnes school of football, Saints weren't at our best but we should not be losing to teams like Dundee. We found it difficult to find a way to combat the relentless long balls.

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• St Mirren have scored in each of their last four games in the Premiership, scoring eight goals in that run.

• Simon Murray has scored six goals in the Premiership this season (two in this game), more than any other Dundee player.

• Toyosi Olusanya has scored six goals in the Premiership this season (one in this game), more than any other St Mirren player.

• Ryan Astley has assisted his first goal in the Premiership this season.

Watch all the action from Dundee's victory over St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.

(Available to UK users only).

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St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "It's disappointing after the recent run we've been on.

"It's two second phase set plays, I didn't see Dundee scoring today. They went very direct which is their prerogative in these conditions.

"These are the hard ones after the euphoria of the other night [against Rangers].

"It looked like a tired performance but we've been on a very good run. This doesn't take away that it's still one of the best starts [to a season] in a long, long time."

St Mirren fans, let us know your thoughts on Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Dundee here, external.

Adam Binnie
BBC Sport Scotland

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After a couple of consecutive wins by the same score line, St Mirren were on the wrong end of a 2-1. However, that does not tell the whole story.

The hosts dominated possession for the majority of the match and will feel as though they deserved more.

Toyosi Olusanya found himself in behind Dundee's backline just after half-time at 1-1, but lost balance and battered his effort into the wrong side of the side-netting.

The hosts then continued to threaten thereafter before Simon Murray's second took the wind out of their sails.

Although Stephen Robinson's side failed to back up the Boxing Day heroics that helped to shock Rangers, they will still finish 2024 inside the Premiership's top six.

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St Mirren left-back Scott Tanser returns from suspension, while forward Conor McMenamin is working his way back to fitness.

But captain Mark O'Hara remains out with a thigh problem.

Dundee manager Tony Docherty will assess the fitness of Jordan McGhee and Antonio Portales after the defenders came off in the defeat by Ross County with illness and a tight hamstring respectively.

Ziyad Larkeche, Scott Fraser, Joe Shaughnessy and Clark Robertson remain out.

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• St Mirren have won five of their last six home games against Dundee in the Scottish Premiership (L1), including their last three in a row since a 0-1 defeat in October 2021.

• Dundee have only enjoyed two wins in their last 13 Scottish Premiership meetings with St Mirren (D3 L8), a 1-0 victory in October 2021 and 4-0 in November 2023.

• St Mirren have only won one of the last five occasions in which their final top-flight match of a calendar year has been at home (D2 L2), a 1-0 victory over Kilmarnock in 2019.

• Excluding years in which they were relegated, Dundee have lost their final top-flight game of a calendar year in nine of their last 12 attempts (W2 D1), although did draw 2-2 with Kilmarnock in their final such match in 2023.

• Six of St Mirren's last eight Scottish Premiership goals against Dundee have either been scored by Mikael Mandron (three) or Toyosi Olusanya (three).

Sportscene pundits Scott Allan and Steven Naismith analyse St Mirren's winning goal in their 2-1 win against Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.

We asked for your views on St Mirren's 2-1 Boxing Day win against Rangers.

Here's what some of you said:

Chris: It felt like a bit of a stop-start season up until December, with European matches in the early stages of the campaign stretching our squad depth whilst our form was inconsistent. But we now find ourselves one point better off than we were at this stage last season - which was our best in over three decades - and fourth place is a realistic target!

Eddie: We are now playing our way, the players that have come into the team have taken their chance and proven they can be relied upon. The managers pep talk of bringing in players has had the desired effect. We desperately need fresh signings as the small squad is being stretched to the limit I am delighted that the two young players are almost ready.

Craig: Absolutely tremendous performance from every Saints player! A lot has been made of how poor Rangers were, in fact Saints got in their faces right from kick-off and despite a 15 minute period at the start of the second half, we never looked like losing it, Stephen Robinson is doing a brilliant job.

Ian: Well done the Saints. Grit and determination. Another very valuable three points. Let's keep the form going and we'll be safe for another season very shortly.

Neil: Delighted to get the three points, we were the better team in the first half but rode our luck in the second half. Delighted to see young Callum Penman and Evan Mooney come on, and great set up by Mooney for a brilliant strike from Caolan Boyd-Munce.

Watch highlights from St Mirren's dramatic 2-1 win against Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.

Were you at the game or following the match elsewhere?

Either way, we want your views - have your say here, external.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "We have to credit the resilience of the players. We moved the ball really well first half, we pressed them really high.

"When you have a right go and move the ball quickly, you'll create chances and we responded to a setback. That's the bigger thing for me.

"Evan [Mooney] is a really intelligent player. You can't buy that nowadays. I have to mention young Callum Penman as well. The changes came at the right time and the players reacted to it."

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