Fowler insists Saints will be refreshed and ready to pass Inverness test

Dundee United boss Laszlo brings in three new players ahead of trip to Falkirk

St Mirren have every confidence that Lewis Morgan will deliver to the usual high standard against Inverness Caledonian Thistle today, despite his move to Celtic.

The 21-year-old will be loaned back to the Paisley side and assistant manager James Fowler expects Morgan just to get with things like nothing has happened.

He said: “Lewis will be involved in this game in a different capacity than normal, but we are expecting the usual type of performance.

“His focus on playing for us and helping us put in a challenge for the Championship has remained high over the past few weeks and is still in place now.”

The Saints started the new year with a 1-1 draw against Morton on Tuesday which cut their lead to three points over Dundee United.

But Fowler is taking a pragmatic approach. “We go into this game having dropped a coupleofpoints.however,that does not quite tell the full story,” he added. “If we had been offered four points out of the six before we played Dundee United and Morton we would have probably accepted them so there is no point grumbling about that total afterwards.

“We played well at Greenock, especially in the first half, but we could not add a second goal. That gave Morton hope and they came back into things in the second when our efforts against Dundee United caught up with us.”

Fowler added: “We will be refreshed and ready for Inverness Caledonian Thistle and we will need to be. They are a strong side who have climbed the table in recent weeks and who still have an interest in promotion. They will see winning at our place as a major boost to their promotion hopes so we have to play well.”

Inverness manager John Robertson said: “We have had two good matches with St Mirren so far this season, but we have not yet picked up any points despite being the better team for long periods. It would be nice to go to Paisley, play well and get three points.”

Second-placed Dundee United visit Falkirk and the Tannadice men could have three new faces, with Watford defender Brandon Mason, former Kilmarnock midfielder Craig Slater and Danish attackeremillyngallbrought in by manager Csaba Laszlo.

The United boss said: “We said last week when we lost to St Mirren that there was still a long way to go. A few days later we had gained two more points on them so we will keep on fighting.”

Falkirk manager Paul Hartley said: “I was disappointed with the goals we lost in the 2-0 defeat at Dunfermline on Tuesday. We need to defend

Watford full-back Brandon Mason has joined Dundee United on loan for the rest of the season.

better, especially in what will be a very difficult game.”

Queen of the South head to third-placed Livingston, with managergarynaysmithwishing he could turn the clock back four weeks.

Naysmith explained: “It has been unfortunate that we have not been able to build on a terrific performance and a 5-2 win at Dunfermline in middecember. That put us in the top four, but a number of injuries and then conceding poor goals in a couple of games has slowed down our momentum.

“It would be great to get back to that especially against a strong Livingston side.”

Brechin City manager Darren Dods is hoping that an element of freshness will help his side defeat Morton and finally secure that first Championship win of the season.

Dods said: “Of course not winning has been talked about. However, it is not something that we dwell on for too long. Hopefully we can get a spark from the arrival of Callum Tapping from Queen of the South or by having Andy Jackson fully fit for the first time since August.” Dumbarton manager Stephen Aitken knows that his team will be facing a Dunfermline side looking to embed themselves in a play-off place, but he reckons his men can spring a surprise.

Aitken said: “We did really well in our last game at Dunfermline and they needed a late goal for a point, so we are not going into the game thinking about anything other than a win. In this league you have to play well to give yourself a chance of getting anything so we need to be at that standard again.”