Sorry to be missing this game as I always enjoy a trip up to Dingwall but it's the Leuchars Air Show for me this Saturday.I,ll make up for it on the 3rd of January though.

Hopefully Del will have sorted out the defensive problems and we will have a full squad to pick from. Team wise, I haven't got a scooby who'll play.There is no scope for anything less than 3 points for Saints.It will be tough, but I think we'll begin to show exactly what we can do.Lets hope so anyway.

I'd take a point if Thistle were in Saints current position, but I know what you mean.

Very early for a six pointer, but I think that's exactly what this game is.

County winning would put a decent gap between us, while a Super J's win would drag us back into the relegation zone.

It'll be good to see a game after such a long absence. We've played 6 consecutive games away from home, four of them in the league. But from that we only picked up four points. But then it's more than what St. Johnstone picked up in the same period..

Both teams will be looking at this game as a must win, which should make it a fairly competative match.

I was up for the challenge cup game and after the match I thought County will be up there with us.......

I shall miss this one as I am away to sunny Spain. I shall be going to The Barcelona game instead. I suspect it will be a big drop in class from the first division.

I have no valid reason to miss this one like air shows or going to Barcelona so i'll just need to say i can't be arsed.

I don't blame you.

Well I'll be there as usual - air show, Barcelona pah - looking forward to it as I always do!

Seems the long-awaited Jody Morris comeback won't be happening though - he apparently broke down in a closed doors game yesterday - as did Kevin James (surprise, surprise).

Looking forward to seeing Dyron Dall again - he was well on his way to becoming a cult hero at Saints - another Del mistake letting him go.

A must win or the boo boys will be on McInnes' back.

You've already shown us what you can do, LOSE.

ROFLCOPTOR!!!!!11111 What a wit!

The world really has gone crazy.

We should be favourites for this one but the way we are playing I can't see past County.

Life is shit. I take solace in the fact Dundee will be here for another season.

Don't talk utter bollocks and please don't jump on the "everything Del has done has been shit" bandwagon, it doesn't suit ya.

It's bad enough having to read the comments of certain WAP regulars who have made fools out themselves in recent weeks. I'm sorry, but certain St Johnstone fans on that forum belong in amongst the Old Firm crowd; YOU CANNOT CREATE LASTING SUCCESS IN THE SPACE OF SIX GAMES.

Radford referred to Luggy's start a while back and I think he was spot on. Luggy made a poor start but was given the time to put things right. Same should apply here IMO, sit down, shut up and give him time. Should he finish outside the top three then he will most likely get the axe anyway. But a settled side under McInnes could go places, and by that I mean places northwards.

Saints will win by an odd goal (when I say odd, I don't necessarily mean like Matt Glennon's goal a few seasons ago but perhaps by two goals to one).

I hope that's clear.

Highland league???

You're hoping we are. Lets face it your predictions about us are usually car crash efforts.

Name four times I've ever made incorrect predicitions.

Touche, 10 points.

Saints will win the league 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006.

Keep saying it often enough and one day it may come true.

Back to the game...

Hopfully we can sneak a win back up in Dingwall, and if we play like we did in the first round of the CC then theres no reason we can't. Hopfully 3 points and climb a few places up the table. 2-1 County.

I for one am going to treat this game with the contempt and apathy it deserves.

It's depressing when you look at other match threads and see most fans all agreed on eight or nine starters for their team. After the Livi (Co-Op Cup) game, I thought we we were getting closer to that but then came the Clyde debacle.

Morgan is one of the most uninspiring signings of recent times and whilst I'm happy not to get on the guy's back at this stage, I'd play Liam Craig at left back, as he wouldn't be in my midfield on Saturday. Hardie is running out of chances (although I think he'll benefit from having Morris fit) but he would play in the centre with McKoy, with Millar right and Sheerin left. The other option is to leave Hardie out and play Millar in the centre with Swankie on the right. When Morris is fit though, we can't really go into games with a central midfield pairing that would be dwarfed by The Krankies.

Rutkiewicz will return after his meningitis scare (which excuses that woeful performance at Firhill) and Anderson didn't really work at full back so Irvine has to continue there. Anderson or McCaffrey? Pfff.

Can't come close to nailing a strike pairing. Holmes lulls you into thinking he should start every time then disappoints, MacDonald is nowhere to be seen, whilst the manager seems to really rate Samuel and to be fair, he's been better in the last couple of matches. Jackson will come good eventually and I'd hate to see McInnes lose total faith in him but Milne is probably our most dangerous option as things stand.

I still cling to the hope that our squad is too good to knock around the lower reaches of the league for the whole campaign but I'm not sure the turning point is near and fear another heavy defeat, probably 3-0.

You claim you are happy not to get on his back immediately after claiming him to be one of the most uninspiring signings of recent times having seeing him once? That is a contradiction. I normally agree with most things you say but you've gone pot crazy if you think playing Liam Craig at left back is a better option than Morgan after one proper viewing - in which he actually did reasonably well against one of the early seasons better players in the division. I can't really stomach being a Saints fan when even the most level headed fellow fan I know comes out with stuff like that.

We're going to have to accept Jody Morris and Kevin James will probably feature very little for us for the duration of the season since neither seems capable of remaining injury free. We have little choice but to persevere with what we have got available to us and try to get some sort of consistency out of them. I can pick a defence for Saturday but the midfield depends on the strikers and the strikers depend on the midfied. We have too many options which I fear could be our downfall for the remainder of the season. However, we haven't seen the two games played since the Clyde match so McInnes could be in a better position than us.

If we play like we did against Clyde then we will suffer another heavy defeat but I hope and pray I never see another performance like it.

Offiong signing for Saint Johnstone

Not at all. He has my full support if selected but it's similar to something you were saying in the summer. You didn't include many new signings in your potential strongest XI, saying they'd have to earn their place. Whilst I appreciate it's slightly different with Morgan, he himself isn't even a specialist left back so the same should apply. It would be different if we'd brought in a guy like Dixon or Kononen but as it is, I genuinely don't see Morgan as any better an option than Liam Craig. McInnes hasn't filled a problem position IMO, he's just given himself another option on top of Sheerin, Anderson and Craig.

There are positives to be taken from every other signing McInnes has made but I'd challenge anyone to come up with one surrounding Morgan's arrival.

It looks like Morris will be out for longer yet as despite training for a full nine days, a scan has shown his hamstring still has a tear. Bizarre that he could train for so long with feeling it but just about sums things up for us at the moment. You know my thoughts on Kevin James the player but I've just about lost total faith in his ability to make any sort of long-term contribution. I'm sure he will be fit for the Queens or Dundee game but then if he makes it to November injury-free it'll be his longest run for a good couple of years.

I didn't think we'd turn in the performance we did against Clyde (after the showing at Livi), so have little reason to believe we won't play as badly again.

I've built myself up for losing 3-0, Daal scoring really would be a new low though.

Alan Morgan was a terrible signing for County in the season we were relegated from the First Division. He was played at left back, left midfield and centre midfield and he looked uncomfortable in all three positions. Gave the ball away alot and didn't look interested at all. Although no team has a divine right to challenge at the top, with the players available to St Johnstone they should be doing better than they are currently. However signings like Holmes and Morgan for me are uninspiring, and as a result you will be nowhere near the top of the league this season unless they change things around soon.

As for the game, they key to this will be the midfield. Hart, Brittain and Lawson should be able to take the game to St Johnstone and if we keep possesion like we have done for long periods this season, St Johnstone will come under sustained pressure. Steven Craig is starting to poke a few goals away, so he will be starting and I hope Higgins plays along side him as he always plays well against St Johnstone.

County and St Johnstone have met 23 times with St JOhnstone edging the head to head record with eight wins to our five, with ten draws. County's biggest win came in a New Year game when we demolished St Johnstone 4-0 at Victoria Park. St Johnstone's biggest win was a 3-0 defeat of County at Victoria Park with the current Hibs boss Mixu Pantyliner scoring a hat trick. Before the Challenge Cup win this season St Johnstone had won the last two games against County without conceding a goal.

I am predicting a narrow win for County.

I remember that game but i can't see Saints doing that again to your guys!. I agree with you it will be a narrow win for County. 2-1.

To be fair a lot of players looked uncomfortable in whatever position Leitch decided to shift them in or out of each week.

Morgan's time with County was recent but I think you are being harsh on Holmes who has been away from Dingwall for a long time and has spent time at various levels in England, so I'm sure will have improved as a player. There's no doubt he's struggled in a couple of games but he's been really effective in others and I think he'll make a good contribution over the course of the season. He's one of the few players who would probably get pass marks for their season so far.

Come on you Saints.
Time to get this show on the road and time for the boys to stand up and be counted.

Personally I think we will do the business and start the process of getting our season going in Dingwall.There is NO other option. 3-1 Saints...YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Go Del.....Go Saints.....................................

fARMERS PUMPED AGAIN HOPEFULLY

Which set of farmers would those be?

I did say pumped again so it can only be the men from perth

K THNX BBZ

Nae danger.

Quiet here today .....finished 2-1, and since I'm lazy, I'll copy and paste from my post at OTB.

Difficult game to read to be honest, while the result is obvious disappointing, the display was some what encouraging.

We were sleeping at the first goal, and Samuel waltzed in from the back post to the front and nodded home from 6 yards. I think the finger of blame will be pointed at Boyd, but I generally feel that it's because we operate this dang 'zonal .marking' instead of picking a man and staying with him. The second St Jonstone goal came from Samuel again, picked the ball up on the left hand side, and just ran at our defence, his pace was to much for us and generally was too good for us today.

Our goal was a well worked move passing move, good enough to split any defence in the league, and whats more this time it had a blistering finish from Britain, leaving the St Johnstone defence and Main all looking at each other asking WTF!!!!!. County had more chances, a crossbar hit by Hart (I think) before scoring, and couple of sots outside the box, and a couple more just needing that foot to be put on the end of the crosses, but our lack of finishing came back to haunt us.

Overall a bad result, but a decent display, one that left me knowing that if we have had a finisher on the park, then we could have got the point we deserved, or maybe the 3.

How frustrating it is it when you type out a post and then the page doesn't load! Here we go again...

What a relief! County can probably claim a point would've been fair but I feel we were due a break and the players certainly earned it today. McInnes clearly rates Samuel very highly and today we were given a glimpse why. He already tested Bullock before he should've scored when the Englishman again came to County's rescue. That was after County had already glanced the post with an early header but Samuel wasn't to be denied and like Mackie says, a clever run and a good delivery from Swankie saw him bullet home a header.

His second goal was superb. He picked up the ball wide on the left and after using his pace to go round the outside of Boyd, cut back infront of the defender then knocked the ball past another County player before smashing under Bullock. Saints then worked themselves a couple of good situations but lacked the killer ball to create an opportunity for the third. Sensing this, McInnes replaced the goal hero with Steven Milne but it was Derek Adams double change (Strachan and Scott) that turned the tide firmly in County's favour. They scored a great goal of their own and rattled the bar but despite largely dominating territory didn't overly exert an unusually wobbly Alan Main.

Saints didn't look like adding to our tally, especially after McInnes through Holmes on in the lone striker role in the 4-5-1 system we used all afternoon. Much better performance from us though that hopefully breeds some confidence. Didn't think County reached the heights of the Challenge Cup game and the result might've been different if they had.

St Johnstone fans must be happy that despite being awful so far, they're only five points off top and nobody's showing signs of striding away.

What an odd league this is panning out to be so far.

It's still very early days. I for one would never rule St. Johnstone out. The thing is, if they don't show more consistency then a gap will start to open up, as it's early days yet. This could be the result that kick-starts their season though, good result.

never in any doubt.....

Vital and deserved win - cruising until the last 20 minutes - bit scary when County got that free-kick at the end, thought we were going to lose a 2 goal lead again especially with Dyron on the pitch!

Just wondering why County always exagerate the crowd - 2400 no way, do they count the eyes!

My least favourite away day - too far and zero atmosphere - good fish supper in Aviemore though.

It's the first time I've seen County in over five weeks, and basically I could have been sleeping for two seasons and I would have believed we were now in 2008.
The season we were relegated everyone said we played some good football but we couldn't score... same again today, and by all accounts the same as much of this season so far !

We did pass the ball about well, but we really didn't create an awful lot in the final third of the pitch. With the exception of the goal and the following 10 minutes.

St. Johnsone were not that impressive either, which makes it a bit disappointing we never took anything from the game. Colin Samual was basically the difference.

As mentioned above he had a couple of chances before he actually got the first goal. The free kick from whcih the goal came from was a soft award I thought, but then we maybe should have conceeded a free kick about 30 seconds before that wasn't given...
But Samual was left unmarked in the six yard box and wasn't even challenged as he headed the ball in at the near post.

His second was even worse. He picked the ball up and ran from the half way line, wide on the left, no challenge was made on him as he went past Boyd then Dowie before smashing the ball low past Bullock

Arguably County's goal wa sthe pick of the bunch though. A great strike from the edge of the box which left Main with no chance. I was standing directly in line with the shot behind the goal, and you could tell from the moment it left his foot it was going in.

County had chances after that, but we lack that killer instinct.

St. Johnstone's style was basially to let Martin Hardie kick the other team of the park, and when that didn't work they let Gary Irvine try to elbow the oppositions out of the way.

Not a game that will live long in my memory...

The defence is still a bit of a worry. Anderson did well at left back but Irvine remains a weak link and always looks capable of making a really silly error that could prove costly. Hardie started poorly in the midfield but improved as the game wore on although Sheerin was uncharacteristically quiet. The rest of the players had a fairly good game.

I think the 4-5-1 formation worked well enough with Swankie and Millar getting forward in support often enough to prevent the lone striker Samuel being too isolated. It didn't work so well when he was replaced by Milne and latterly Holmes. I think on this form Samuel is the only striker really making a case for a start and with the number of midfielders we have, a 4-5-1 might not be such a bad idea for the future.

Encouraging, but I'd like to see a clean sheet at some point.

Very poor game and very poor atmosphere, not much between the teams, the difference being Samuel, I can't bring myself to type much else to be honest. On that performance we are going to struggle in this division.

Jees, nothing like being able to rely on P&B for a fair, impartial account on a game.

Rubbish.

Yeah Sam 4-5-1...The ghostie formation...Bonkers I hear...

Anything is an improvement on what we've been watching recently. Time will tell if things are really on the mend. I worry that McInnes will be too tempted to play Holmes against Queens next week, which would be pants.

With the exception of Colin Samuel having four shots on goal, St. Johnstone didn't really do much else.

County didn't do much either though, lots of pretty sideways passing, but that was about it. I just felt like Saints used Martin Mardie to break up County's passing, and most of the time he was fouling in the process.

Have to agree with The Jailender here, Hardie was used to lump the ball up and behind our defence, and use the pace of Samuel to run freely and effectively. It should have been clear to everyone that when Sameul was subbed, County got into the game more as St Johnstone threat was reduced almost to the point of no real threat on goal.

Got to agree. 2-0 down and fighting valiantly for the last 20 minutes doesn't make up for the rest of the game where our game plan didn't amount no nearly enough.

Whether or not you see Samuel's 2nd down to shite defending on our part our a brilliant solo display on his, it's one fo the goals of the seaon, superbly taken. Easily my MotM despite being taken off earlyish, he'd already won the game for his side.