Friend ... or foe?
There will be no love lost as pals go head to head
Best of friends, or best of enemies?
Well, for St Mirren ace Stelios Demetriou and Dumbarton midfielder Dimitris Froxylias, this week will prove something of a balancing act.
The Cypriot stars have both endeared themselves to their respective supports since joining their clubs in the past year.
Stelios has been a revelation in Paisley since his arrival in January, while Froxylias is fast becoming a favourite at The Rock since joining his best mate in Scotland by penning a deal with Stevie Aitken’s Sons over the course of the summer.
But, this weekend, friendship is set to be cast aside in a battle for three points.
The Buddies travel to Dumbarton in a bid to get back to winning ways.
And, for Stelios, there is nothing than he would like more than to get one over his old pal.
“We are friends – but not on Saturday,” he told Express Sport.
“For 90 minutes, we are on different teams, with different targets, and we will be battling each other for the points.
“He has done well. He has scored some goals, but it will be a different story against us.
“He will be in for a tough afternoon.
“We are looking to continue our good form in the league, so I don’t care who we are playing — we need the three points.
“The result last weekend wasn’t great. We can’t say we are not interested in the cup because we have to win every single game, but our main target is the league and we have to remain focused on that.”
Stelios admits the mood in the camp was low after the side crashed out of the Irn-Bru Cup to Raith Rovers last weekend.
A trip to Dumbarton isn’t necessarily an easy afternoon either, with St Mirren still to win there since their relegation.
And the fullback insists the side knows fine well the challenge that awaits them on Saturday.
He added: “We all know how difficult it is to play Dumbarton away from home, but I think every single game in the league is difficult.
“We have done well up until now against pretty much every single team, so we just want to continue what we are doing.
“After the bad result we had last week, we just want to turn it around and get back to the winning games of football.
“Coming in to training on Monday, none of the boys were happy. But it was simply a case of getting the heads up and back to work.”