The first good chance at Pittodrie comes the way of St Mirren as Ilkay Durmus crosses for Ryan Flynn to stab towards goal but Joe Lewis spreads himself to block well.

Florian Kamberi's first shot in an Aberdeen shirt does not go according to plan - a mis-hit that barely moves a yard before St Mirren clear up.

Still, a determined start from the Dons.

And away we go.

A gentle flurry of snow as kick-off approaches in Glasgow... It's a tranquil sight but that will all change shortly once the blood and thunder starts, with Steven Davis and Gary Dicker sure to be in the thick of it.

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Motherwell manager Graham Alexander tells BBC Sportsound: "The players are playing well and they are working hard for each other.

"We know how close they (Hamilton) are to us geographically, we don't need to be told about the importance.

"For me, we'll have to work extremely hard to get three points from this. Its going to be a real tough challenge today. We need to show our quality. We've got to do all the things we've been doing recently."

Livingston manager David Martindale suffered his first defeat as manager last week to St Johnstone, but he tells BBC Scotland: "This might sound hard to believe but even when we went on that winning streak nothing changed, we were just a wee bit more buoyant in training.

"Even going back to before I became manager, it's two games in 19 we've lost, it's still an incredible stat and one we should be proud of. It's not luck, it's consistency and the form of the players."

Dundee United assistant manager Stephen Frail tells BBC Sportsound: "If we win today we go five behind Livingston and they've been on an incredible run recently. We're trying to look in front of us rather than behind us.

"If we play like we did last week [2-0 win over Ross County] I'm sure we'll get a positive result."

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin tells BBC Scotland: "We came up last night. It looked treacherous. We were kind of concerned about the game.

"This wind is not nice. The conditions are going to be difficult for both teams."

Asked about his comments this week about diving, Goodwin added: "We've had a couple of soft penalties as well.

"I'm encouraging my players not to go down easily. If penalties are legitimate, that's completely different. We can't have players falling over in the box at the slightest bit of contact. It's ruining the game.

"We need to be careful about where the game's going."

Hamilton head coach Brian Rice tells BBC Sportsound: "The boys deserve to go again after the performance [last week against Rangers] they put it in. They need to be ready to go.

"They key is getting that performance again. To me it’s a mindset. That’s what we are aiming for, and to be safe and stay in the Premiership.

"Most importantly, we need consistency and that starts today."

Another landmark day for defender Andrew Considine, who equals Stewart McKimmie's number of Aberdeen appearances to move joint third on the all-time list.

He's got a bit to go to catch up with Sportsound regular Willie Miller.

Deadline day signing Florian Kamberi makes his Aberdeen debut in the starting line-up today after sorting out his work permit issues. His inclusion is one of three changes made by Dons boss Derek McInnes.

Dean Campbell and Niall McGinn also come into the team with Ash Taylor and Dylan McGeouch dropping to the bench and Greg Leigh out for the rest of the season with a hamstring tear.

Two changes for St Mirren with Richard Tait and Lee Erwin starting in place of the injured Jamie McGrath and Jon Obika, who is among the replacements.

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Dundee United make just one change from their 2-0 win over Ross County. Striker Marc McNulty has to make do with a place on the bench, with Louis Appere starting instead.

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David Martindale loves to ring the changes for Livingston. His average tends to be four changes per game. Today though he goes for five after the club suffered their first defeat under his reign last weekend to fellow League Cup finalists St Johnstone.

Jon Guthie, Jack Fitzwater, Julien Serrano, Josh Mullin and Craig Sibbald are all in the starting line-up.

Out go Efe Ambrose, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Alan Forrest and Steve Lawson who drop to the bench, and Jackson Longridge is not in the squad.

Motherwell manager Graham Alexander makes just one change to the team that secured a 1-0 win at Rugby Park on Wednesday.

Midfielder Robbie Crawford makes way for Mark O'Hara, who starts his first game in over a month.

As for Hamilton, head coach Brian Rice names an unchanged side after last week's encouraging 1-1 draw at home to runway leaders Rangers.

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With both Kemar Roofe and Alfredo Morelos suspended, Cedric Itten continues as Rangers' lone striker as manager Steven Gerrard makes three changes to the side that drew away to Hamilton last weekend.

Steven Davis and Ryan Jack start in midfield, with Glen Kamara and Bongani Zungu dropping to the bench.

Meanwhile, Gerrard continues his rotation on the left of his central defence, with Leon Balogun starting and Filip Helander taking his place among the substitutes, which also include the fit-again Jermain Defoe and Scott Arfield.

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There's no place even on the Kilmarnock bench for Kyle Lafferty, the former Rangers striker signed this week but who hasn't played for a month since leaving Italian Serie B outfit Reggina.

Tommy Wright does, though, make two changes from the side that lost at home to Motherwell in his debut as manager.

Youssouf Mulumbu and Aaron Tshibola start in midfield, with veteran former Rangers winger Chris Burke dropping to the bench and Alan Power missing out through suspension.

Goalkeeper Danny Rogers has to make do with a place among the subs after recovering from a back injury.

It looks like a brisk day at Pittodrie after the snow in Aberdeen earlier this week. Watching the players warming up on the TV screens here at a cosy BBC HQ, the players are certainly feeling the cold; gloves on, cheeks puffed against the icy wind.

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St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin was letting off some steam about the penalty his side conceded in a midweek drubbing from Celtic.

He reckons the hand on the shoulder from Ryan Flynn on Greg Taylor would not have knocked over his seven-year-old son.

He also had a pop at Hibs winger Jamie Murphy for going down too easily against the Buddies and in Aberdeen's defeat at Easter Road last Saturday.

It will be interesting to see if there are any contentious penalty box incidents at Pittodrie this afternoon.

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Aberdeen are on a troubling run of just one win in eight but are very much in the race to finish third. A win today would pull them to within two points of Hibs.

The Dons are also going through a goal drought, failing to find the net in their last four outings.

Manager Derek McInnes, who shipped out two strikers on deadline day and brought in three, will be hoping Florian Kamberi and Fraser Hornby can gel quickly today.

Aberdeen are unbeaten at home against St Mirren in their last 11 league encounters (W5 D6).

The visitors lost 4-0 to Celtic on Wednesday but have been decent on their travels, winning six on the road this season and they haven't suffered back-to-back Premiership defeats since early October.

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We'll see how Livingston respond to a first loss under David Martindale since their 14-game streak was broken by St Johnstone last Saturday.

Dundee United snapped a eight-game run without a welcome victory last time out, beating Ross County up in Dingwall to rekindle hopes of a top-six finish.

Livingston have won both meetings this season, with Alan Forrest striking late on for a 2-1 success at Tannadice back in October.

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