Saints boss Gus MacPherson marked five years in charge at Love Street this week and, while things are infinitely better since those darks days, he doesn't have his troubles to seek for tomorrow's game. His main problem is injuries. Stephen O'Donnell, Tonet and Tom Brighton are all out, while David Barron has only just stepped up his rehabilitation. Midfielders Gary Mason and Stephen Robb are both doubtful after missing the defeat to Celtic and Will Haining is also looking likely to miss out after limping off with an injury on Saturday. Scott Cuthbert is his likely replacement.
Injuries aren't MacPherson's only problem - his team are also in a poor run of form, which began when we played United at Tannadice. That match sparked a terrible run that has seen us take just one point from six games. We also went four games without a goal, although the late strikes against both halves of the Old Firm in recent weeks suggest things are improving on that score. The team that faced Celtic on Saturday did exceptionally well, with striker Craig Dargo putting in a fine performance up front. With the exception of Cuthbert replacing Haining in defence, it's likely to be the same team that started last week with Dargo partnering Dennis Wyness. If we play in the same way we could well take something from the game.
United have dropped points in the last couple of weeks and amusingly manager Craig Levein has annoyed Hamilton counterpart Billy Reid by accusing his side of being a bit negative. However, if you ignore that, they have been on a superb run of form - before their recent troubles they won eight out of ten games, lifting them to fourth in the table and gaining them a place in the League Cup semi-final.
Levein has managed to pluck a few unknowns from the lower leagues in recent years and turn them into stars. Morgaro Gomis and Danny Swanson have both signed from second division clubs during the last 18 months and have easily adapted to the SPL. Francisco Sandaza has arrived from the lower leagues in Spain and has rewarded Levein's gamble with an impressive tally of six goals to date, while Irish striker Jon Daly is on form now that he is fit. On the plus side, midfielder Prince Bauben will miss out after being sent off in a midweek reserve game for violent conduct!
United play good football at times and pass the ball about well and with pace, so have the ability to cause us a number of problems. However, our performance against Celtic - especially at the start of the second half - was impressive and if we can produce a similar display this could be a very interesting, and entertaining, encounter.