Preview: St Johnstone vs. Hibernian - prediction, team news, lineups

Hibernian will attempt to claim a second straight victory when they make the trip to Perth for Saturday's Scottish Premiership meeting with St Johnstone.

Meanwhile, the home side will be looking to go three games without defeat after collecting four points from their last two matches.

Match preview

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Having collected 15 points from 16 games, relegation-threatened St Johnstone are currently sitting in the bottom two with goal difference keeping them below 10th-placed Motherwell.

Craig Levein, who was appointed St Johnstone boss in November, has experienced mixed results in his short time in charge, having seen his opening six games split evenly between wins, draws and defeats.

After taking four points from his first two matches, the Saints fell to consecutive defeats to Hearts and Celtic, before they got back on track with a narrow 1-0 win over St Mirren.

They looked to be heading towards another victory last weekend when a Bevis Mugabi own goal gave them a slender lead in their away meeting with Motherwell, but the contest ultimately ended in disappointment after Mika Biereth netted a stoppage-time equaliser to deny the Saints their first away win of the Scottish Premiership season.

While they may hold the worst away record in the top flight, St Johnstone have fared reasonably well in recent outings at McDiarmid Park, having won three of their last five home matches.

Hibernian will carry significant momentum into Saturday's fixture after winning four of their last five matches to leave them in fourth position and one point adrift of third-placed St Mirren.

Nick Montgomery's side claimed maximum points against Kilmarnock, Dundee and Aberdeen, before they were stopped in their tracks by a heavy 4-1 defeat to the reigning champions Celtic.

After being brushed aside at Celtic Park, the European hopefuls produced a positive response to return to winning ways with a 1-0 win over Livingston, which came courtesy of a first-half effort from Martin Boyle.

That positive result was built upon another strong defensive display from Hibs, who have now recorded three clean sheets in their last five matches.

They may be quietly confident about their chances of clinching another shutout this weekend after keeping St Johnstone at bay in their most recent head-to-head meeting in September when goals from Liam Miller and Dylan Vente proved enough to seal a 2-0 victory.

Team News

St Johnstone has to contend with an injury list featuring Sam McClelland, Cammy MacPherson, Ali Crawford and Drey Wright.

Nicky Clark, who has missed the last five league matches, is closing in on a return to action, but Saturday's contest will come too soon for the 32-year-old striker.

Ukraine Under-21 international Maksym Kucheriavyi is in doubt after he missed the draw with Motherwell due to a head injury.

As for the visitors, they remain without the services of long-term absentees Chris Cadden, Jake Doyle-Hayes, Harry McKirdy and Adam Le Fondre.

After returning from injury to play the full 90 minutes against Livington, left-back Jordan Obita is likely to retain his place in the side, with Montgomery set to name an unchanged lineup.

Like Obita, Vente is in line to make a second straight start, and he will look to add to his three-goal league tally when he features alongside Boyle in the Hibernian forward line.

St Johnstone possible starting lineup:

Kelly; O'Donnell, Mugabi, Blaney; Spencer, Slattery, Zdravkovski, Spittal, Gent; Biereth, Obika

Hibernian possible starting lineup:

Marshall; Whittaker, Fish, Hanlon, Obita; Youan, Levitt, Newell, Tavares; Boyle, Vente

We say: St Johnstone 1-2 Hibernian

Although St Johnstone have proven to be a tough team to beat in recent home games, their recent head-to-head record suggests that this could be a difficult fixture.

Hibernian have won five of their last eight meetings (D2, L1) with Saturday's opponents, and we think that they will continue that impressive run of results by claiming a narrow win this weekend.

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