Saints land a tough trip to Pittodrie in the cup
St Mirren have been handed a tricky test after being drawn away to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup fourth round.
The Buddies will head to Pittodrie and the Northern Lights to face the Dons on the weekend of January 20/21 following last night’s draw, conducted by former Scotland international midfielder Colin Cameron and Scottish rugby legend Doddie Weir.
It marks a re- run of the 1959 Scottish Cup final which the Saints prevailed 3-1 to get their hands on the coveted silverware in front of over 108,000 fans at Hampden Park.
Aberdeen are currently in good form in the Premiership, with Derek McInnes’ side sitting in second spot behind champions Celtic, two points ahead of third-placed Hibernian.
The Pittodrie side made it all the way to the Scottish Cup final last season only to be beaten 2- 1 by all-conquering Celtic having seen off Stranraer, Ross County, Partick Thistle and Hibs en route.
Saints will be hoping to repeat their fourth round heroics from the last campaign, where they staved off the threat of top flight Dundee away from home to progress.
John Sutton and Jack Baird struck in a 2-0 victory at Dens Park to set up a fifth round clash with East Fife.
Their run eventually came to end at Parkhead following an admirable showing against Celtic at the quarter final stage. Harry Davis’ first-half header had saw Saints hold a halftime lead only for the hosts to romp to victory after the break.
The two sides last met in the Scottish Cup back in 2011, when a Rory McArdle effort deep into stoppage time took the clash to a replay following Paul McGowan’s opener for the Buddies.
St Mirren were duly knocked out in the replay four days later with a 2-1 defeat at Pittodrie.
Prior to that, the two teams also met back in 2000 when St Mirren were on their way to winning the First Division title.
A 1-1 draw at Love Street, where a Hicham Zerouali stunner levelled the score following Steven McGarry’s opener again took the tie to a replay.
And it was another case of the Dons’ prevailing at the second time of asking as Ebbe Skovdahl’s side went through 2-0.
The Scottish Cup fourth round draw: Dunfermline v Greenock Morton, Ayr United v Arbroath, Albion Rovers v St Johnstone, Motherwell v Hamilton Academical, Heart of Midlothian v Hibernian, Livingston v Falkirk, Dundee v Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Formartine United v Cove Rangers, Montrose/ Queen of the South v Partick Thistle, Celtic v Brechin City, Peterhead v Dumbarton, East Fife v Brora Rangers, Alloa Athletic v Dundee United, Fraserburgh v Rangers, Aberdeen v St Mirren, Kilmarnock v Ross County.