St Johnstone players shout for a penalty as Liam Craig's volley on the edge of the box bounces up into a raft of Motherwell defenders. The visitors are claiming it struck the arm of Ricki Lamie, but John Beaton isn't convinced.

Bright start from Jim Goodwin's St Mirren in Paisley but Ilkay Durmus cannot clear the wall with an early free-kick.

Aberdeen's Lewis Ferguson has plenty of space to drive forward down the right-hand channel and his thumping drive is parried behind the near post by Colin Doyle.

Lively start at Pittodrie.

The snow may have subsided but there is still a lot of wet and windy weather throughout the country, it will be interesting to see what impact the conditions have on today's games.

Last week at Pittodrie, Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis was struggling to take a free-kick because the ball would not be still against the win.

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Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes is determined to end his side's six-game run without a goal or victory.

"It's not a stat we're pleased with, the form we're in," he tells BBC Sportsound.

"We've had to remind the players we're still the fourth best team in Scotland. We're not as bad as people think we are. But to improve on that we need to start finding goals and winning games."

McInnes adds that striker Florian Kamberi is "fine" after being the target of online abuse on Thursday.

"He just dismissed it," McInnes said. "The point of the matter is some people can feel threatened by that. It's the latest in a series of online abuse and just because he's okay with it doesn't make it right."

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin tells BBC Sportsound: "Today is going to be extremely difficult. Livi will want to make amends for last week and they'll want to go into the final in good form.

"I admire the way they go about things, but we're in a decent place ourselves. We feel if we reach the levels we are capable of then we can win the game."

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Motherwell boss Graham Alexander is battling something of an injury crisis, but is confident his depleted side can get the job done against St Johnstone. Motherwell fans will be looking for a big performance after being hammered by local rivals Hamilton Academical last time out.

"We’re struggling with injuries, we’ve got a few out, which is disappointing for us but we have to believe in the team we’ve put out and the squad that we’ve got," the former Scotland defender told BBC Scotland.

"Last week’s game is gone, I don’t want any reaction. I want us to play as we train. We have to take the emotion out of the game, if we can. We can’t win those points – it’s about today’s game. Our first target is to get enough points to make sure we’re a Premiership team.

"Callum Davidson is a good friend of mine and St Johnstone have done really well. They’ve picked up results, got to a cup final and they’ll be a very well organised team with good players."

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Hamilton Academical manager Brian Rice tells BBC Scotland: "Hibs haven't played for two weeks, we've had four games in 13 days now, and three away games this week, so I'm hoping we can keep up the energy levels and the enthusiasm and the spirit that we've shown.

"We're having the mindset at the moment that it doesn't matter if we're home and away, we're having a go."

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Hibernian manager Jack Ross tells BBC Scotland of how he and the club dealt with midfielder Scott Allan being diagnosed with a heart condition.

He said: "Some of the conversations we had were emotional because he's a young man with the best years ahead of him in life never mind his football career.

"Throughout that time we looked after him as a club as best we could. He watched games for us, we kept him involved and I think that helped him mentally.

"He's gone through a lot in his career having type one diabetes. To put up with this challenge and to be back again is great."

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Kilmarnock manager Tommy Wright says the rest of the season is "massive" in determining Kyle Lafferty's future.

The recently signed 33-year-old former Rangers and Hearts striker is on the bench and in line for a Kilmarnock debut today.

"It hasn’t always worked out for Kyle – look at the number of clubs he’s had," Wright tells BBC Sportsound.

“At the age he’s at, it’s a massive 15 weeks for him to determine where he’s going to go after this.

“It’s a win-win for us and he should be totally focused. But Kyle’s Kyle, he needs managed a little more than other players. He’s not a bad lad and I know how to get the best out of him."

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The average points needed to guarantee Scottish Premiership survival has fluctuated in recent years.

Going with the average points needed to stay up in the past two campaigns that were played to a completion, 33 would appear to be a target for struggling sides.

None of the current bottom five have reached 33 points as yet.

St Johnstone have a League Cup final date with Livingston but manager Callum Davidson has not selected today's XI with the showpiece in mind.

"The cup final is irrelevant for me," he tells BBC Scotland. "We’ve picked a team we think can win the game. There are difficult conditions today and it’s really vital in the league that we get a couple of wins as soon as we can. The cup final is an added bonus.

"The changes I’ve made are specifically to win this game. The formation we are playing today with two strikers, we’ve looked at the pitch and conditions, and if we can get the ball forward early. Guy Melamed has contributed massively to the team."

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On his team selection today, Livingston head coach David Martindale tells BBC Sportsound it's partly with next Sunday's League Cup final against St Johnstone in mind.

"You try to get the balance correct," says Martindale.

"And I think I've got it right today. Robby [McCrorie] deserves an opportunity and there are a couple of niggles and knocks with Marvin Bartley and Scott Robinson."

On his side being distracted by next week, Martindale adds: "Hopefully I've done enough to alleviate that."

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin makes two alterations to the side that drew 1-1 with Hamilton on Wednesday night, and it looks like a change of shape.

Forwards Kyle McAllister and Lee Erwin are the men who drop out for winger Dylan Connolly and midfielder Ryan Flynn.

As for the visitors, Livi boss David Martindale makes four changes to the side that suffered a second successive defeat at Tannadice last weekend.

There's a change in goal as Robby McCrorie comes in for Max Stryjek. The suspended Jack Fitzwater also misses out, along with Marvin Bartley and Scott Robinson, who make way for Efe Ambrose, Alan Forrest and Gavin Reilly.

It's a re-run of the Scottish League Cup semi-final as St Mirren take on Livingston. Livi won that contest but have lost their past two league games.

It's the visitors' last chance to impress manager David Martindale before next Sunday's final date with St Johnstone.

For the Buddies, who are pushing for a top-six finish, they have picked up two points in their past two games.

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Bruce Anderson's deflected goal secured a point for Hamilton against St Mirren during the week, with Ilkay Durmus having put the Buddies in front.