Motherwell will welcome St Johnstone to Fir Park on Saturday for a low key league fixture with little at stake. Will the relaxed atmosphere deliver a feast of football or a bore draw?
The last meeting of the teams suggests that the latter is more likely. In early April 2,409 souls watched a featureless encounter at McDiarmid Park. It is hard to believe that this weekend’s match will also sink to that level.
There is little more than pride at stake as this seventh v eighth clash brings us to the last week of the SPFL season. The teams will likely have an eye to early preparation for the next campaign but Motherwell have an earlier date in mind as the cup final draws ever nearer.
Honours are even in the three previous fixtures. Two home wins and the recent draw reflect the similar fortunes between the teams from Motherwell and Perth. Our cup runs signify a much happier camp at Fir Park.
Pictures of Hartley back in full training were a welcome sight during a week that saw the club busy with cup final ticket sales. No injuries were reported after last week’s win over Dundee and we can expect a broadly similar starting eleven to face the Perth Saints.
Our opponents have taken only two points from their last four games but that has been enough to give them ten points ahead of Partick Thistle in the play-off place. Thistle snatched a draw at McDiarmid Park with Sammon’s last minute penalty denying the Saints a win.
The home side still have plenty to achieve this season and it may be that the prospect of a big prize in a fortnight could be enough to spur the team on to a 2-0 win.