Will St Mirren’s meeting with Kilmarnock be a play-off decider?

On the same winter’s day that Kilmarnock slipped into 11th place, St Mirren were given the weekend off from Premiership duty as they lifted the League Cup – their first major honour since 2013 – after a famous 3-1 victory over Celtic.

Since then, everything has gone downhill and a campaign that included such a memorable moment could yet end in misery.

The team’s problems have not been hard to identify, with only 27 goals scored in 35 league games and the defensive solidity that helped earn top-six finishes in the three previous seasons disappearing.

While St Mirren did not want to lose Stephen Robinson to Aberdeen, the temporary appointment of McLeish had provided a new manager bounce of sorts.

A narrow loss to Rangers was followed by back-to-back wins over Falkirk and Aberdeen, but since then they have had a run of four defeats – and problems have piled up.

Injuries have deprived the team of key players like Keanu Baccus, Marcus Fraser and Jonah Ayunga, who scored a double in that Hampden final.

Goalkeeper Shamal George and back-up Ryan Mullen are both sidelined, with emergency short-term signing Ross Sinclair between the sticks for the past two games.

While Kilmarnock head to the SMiSA Stadium with a poor away record, St Mirren’s last home match was a meek 2-0 defeat by a Livingston side who had hadn’t won a game since August.

“We’ve got the advantage of being at home,” McLeish said. “It just probably makes the picture even clearer in our head.

“But you’re not wanting to rely on anyone else.”

Nothing will be settled for certain after what looks likely to be a nerve-wracking afternoon.

However, the outcome will have a major say in who will end their season scrapping in a tense play-off battle.