Queen of the South aren't very good. They've won once all season, and even then they only just scraped past ten man Airdrie United. Given Saints record in such situations, this means we'll probably lose. We just can't seem to win games that we should, and this is one of them. New manager Ian McCall is still searching for his first win in charge of the Doonhammers, and Monday could well see it happen.
Part of McCall's master strategy at Palmerston is to axe their top scorer of last season, David McNiven. Erm, right. Admittedly McCall isn't happy about McNiven having to travel up from Blackpool for training and games, but it seems a bit odd ditching your top scorer. Former Saint John O'Neill is their top scorer this season, and will no doubt add to his tally on Monday.
Saints have two injury problems. Craig Hinchcliffe is out for the season so obviously won't play, whilst Brian McGinty may also miss out. Defender Kirk Broadfoot is suspended (he really is this time, promise) and will probably be replaced by Ian Maxwell. After failing to score in our last two games (told you we were in crisis) we need to staart hitting the back of the net again, something that Stewart Kean and John Sutton have been more than capable of doing so far this season. Let's hope they do it again on Monday.
We're on a bit of bad form (well, by recent standards) at the moment, and Queen of the South are looking for their first win under McCall. Therefore, I predict a 1-0 win for them, with John O'Neill scoring.
Please remember that Monday's game kicks off at 2pm, not 3pm!