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It’s back to league action after the international break on Saturday, as St Johnstone visit Fir Park.

Let’s set the scene for the return to Ladbrokes Premiership action.

First encounter of the campaign

Motherwell and St Johnstone lock horns for the first time in the 2018/19 season on Saturday, with eight games of the campaign already passed.

The Saints sit three points above the Steelmen in the table, having gathered eight points compared to their opponents’ five.

Mixed results

Both teams have identical records in their last five matches. From four league games and one Betfred Cup match, both have lost four and drawn one.

Motherwell arrested a four-game run of defeats with a draw against Livingston in their last outing, with Ryan Bowman’s opener being cancelled out by a Keaghan Jacobs free kick.

St Johnstone started their last five matches with a home draw with Aberdeen, before going on to lose their last four. Two of those games have been against Celtic, including a 6-1 home loss in their last outing.

Head to head

The two teams came face-to-face with each other in the 2017/18 season, with St Johnstone having the upper hand.

Tommy Wright’s men won the first encounter of the campaign 4-1, although Motherwell finished the game with eight men on the pitch because of three red cards.

Motherwell won the next match when St Johnstone visited Fir Park, with Allan Campbell and Curtis Main netting in a 2-0 win.

A 0-0 draw at McDiarmid Park then followed, before the Saints sprung a surprise with a 5-1 win at Fir Park in May as Stephen Robinson’s men geared up for the Scottish Cup final.

Ticket information

Our cheapest ticket for this Saturday’s game is just £20 for adults. Children aged 15 and under can get in to the stadium for just £3 in every stand.

To buy your ticket, just head to our online ticketing website and choose your seat now. You can then choose to pick your ticket up or go for the easy option of printing at home.

St Johnstone fans will be seated in our Phil O’Donnell main stand.

Liam Donnelly captained Northern Ireland Under 21s to victory on Tuesday night, but his side were denied a place in the UEFA Under 21 European Championship play-offs.

The nation’s most-capped player at the level helped his team to a 1-0 home win over Slovakia, securing second spot in their group.

But Portugal’s victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina meant it wasn’t possible for the green and white army to be ranked as one of the best runners-up, with only four of the nine teams in second progressing to the play-off stage.

Nevertheless, the win over Slovakia made it five wins in nine for former ‘Well boss Ian Baraclough’s side, who also defeated group winners Spain away in September, a game in which Donnelly got on the scoresheet.

Chris Cadden and Allan Campbell started as Scotland’s 2019 European Championship qualifying campaign ended with defeat against England.

The pair were involved at Tynecastle as the group winners ran out 2-0 winners, netting second half goals through Reiss Nelson and Kieran Dowell.

For Cadden, the match marked the last time he will be able to feature competitively for the Under 21s, with the 22-year-old ineligible for the next qualifying campaign.

Scotland were already out of the reckoning to make it to the 2019 Euros, having lost in Ukraine last week.

Gael Bigirimana’s Burundi remain in a strong position to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, after picking up a second draw with group favourites Mali.

After a 0-0 away draw to the Eagles on Saturday, the midfielder started again as his side looked to go top of their group.

Fiston Abdul Razak opened the scoring early in the first half for Burundi, but they were pegged back by Mamadou Fafana’s equaliser with 18 minutes to spare.

After four games, Burundi are in third place but are just one point behind Mali and two behind Gabon. The top two teams in the group qualifying automatically for next year’s tournament in Cameroon.

Burundi face South Sudan away in November, with their opponents already out of the running to qualify. Their final group game comes at home to Gabon in March.

Five of Stephen Robinson’s first team squad will be in international action over the coming days.

Chris Cadden and Allan Campbell are on Scotland Under 21 duty, as Scot Gemmill’s side continue their push for at least a play-off spot in qualification for the 2019 UEFA European Under 21 Championship.

Goal difference currently keeps the Scots in third place behind Ukraine in second, who the pair travel to face on Thursday.

A win in Kiev will set up a final game with England which, depending on results, could be a shootout for top spot or a potential play-off place.

Northern Ireland Under 21s are also in contention to reach the play-offs, as they face a double header away to Iceland on Thursday and then at home to Slovakia next Tuesday.

Liam Donnelly’s side are a point behind the Slovaks with two games to go, with Iceland sitting three points behind. All three teams can finish in second and claim a possible play-off spot, depending on results in other groups.

At senior level, Trevor Carson and Gaël Bigirimana are also in qualification action.

Carson’s Northern Ireland play two UEFA Nations League matches away from home on Friday and Monday.

The goalkeeper’s side are in Austria first, before heading south to take on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bosnia are the runaway leaders in the group, having won both of their matches so far. Northern Ireland and Austria have only played once, both against Bosnia.

Bigirimana meanwhile is in action in the qualifying stages for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations with Burundi.

His nation have never reached the tournament before but have made a great start in their group, winning their first match and drawing the second against Gabon.

Group leaders Mali lie in wait on Friday in Bamako, before the two sides meet again in Burundi next Tuesday.

Off a run of four consecutive defeats, Motherwell faced a tough test against high-flying Livingston on their return to Fir Park.

This is the Story of the Match from the weekend clash.

Watch back the best of the action as Motherwell end their run of defeats with a hard-fought draw at home to Livingston.

Richard Tait, Tom Aldred and Ryan Bowman reflect on this afternoon’s 1-1 draw against Livingston.

“We’ve got to build on this,” Tait said. “It’s a point against a difficult side, and we’ve ended that losing run.”

Stephen Robinson says there’s plenty room for improvement but was satisfied his team ended their losing run against Livingston.

The manager saw his team take the lead through Ryan Bowman’s goal. But Keaghan Jacobs’ wonder goal was followed up by a potentially game-changing red card for Carl McHugh.

“The important thing is we stopped the rot,” he said.

“We showed resilience but we need to be better on the ball.”

Motherwell collected a hard-earned point from a tough, scrappy affair against high-flying Livingston.

However, having taken an early lead through Ryan Bowman, the Fir Parkers were left fighting to take a point after Keaghan Jacobs struck a stunning equaliser and ‘Well were left with 10 men for the final 15 minutes after Carl McHugh received a second yellow card.

After three punishing games on the road, Stephen Robinson made a few changes for their return to Fir Park. Peter Hartley returned from injury to form a back three with Tom Aldred and Liam Donnelly. Allan Campbell resumed his midfield role along with Andy Rose in a five-man midfield.

Third-placed Livi looked intent on extending their super form and pressed the home goal from the start. The under pressure ‘Well defence was happy to see Scott Robinson’s shot deflected wide of Trevor Carson’s goal before Dolly Menga’s header drifted on to the top of the net.

The first save though came at the other end in the 14 minute and although McHugh controlled his 20 yard volley well, Liam Kelly comfortably held his shot.

Two minutes later, the Livingston ‘keeper was beaten. Campbell broke to the edge of the visitor’s box before laying the ball into Bowman’s path. And although his shot was on target as Craig Hackett slid in to block, his deflection carried the ball beyond his ’keeper to put the hosts ahead.

The West Lothian defence then survived a bout of pressure, blocking successive shots from Chris Cadden and McHugh, before Curtis Main nodded the ball wide.

After 23 minutes, Livi fans celebrated what they thought was equaliser when Keaghan Jacobs’ corner into a packed six-yard box ended with the ball rolling over the goal line. But celebrations were cut short, when referee Willie Collum awarded ‘Well a free kick as Carson had been impeded.

Livingston’s direct route from their keeper still kept the ‘Well back three occupied but in truth Carson was never tested.

Despite having the bulk of the play, the visitors were lucky not to concede another goal amidst appeals for penalty six minutes from the break.

Andy Rose had his effort blocked eight yards from goal and as the ball bounced around the box Bowman had two efforts on goal blocked, the second coming off a defender’s arm but claims for a penalty were waved aside by the referee.

The pattern of play continued after the break as ‘Well’s careless use of the ball provided Livingston with plenty of possession and the opportunity to put the home defence under almost constant pressure.

Despite a couple of crosses and corners from Cadden the flow of play was one way and Livi were finally rewarded with an equaliser after 62 minutes.

Hartley tugged Menga’s jersey five yards outside the box. The ‘Well captain was booked but worse was to follow when from the resultant free kick Jacobs superbly curled the ball over the defensive wall and into Carson’s top left hand corner.

There was plenty of time for the Steelmen to regain the lead and with 18 minutes remaining, Robinson made a double substitution in the hope that Gael Bigirimana would bring composure and Danny Johnson a winning goal.

However, before either could make an impact, ‘Well were reduced to 10 men when Carl McHugh was shown his second yellow card inside seven minutes.

Motherwell reverted to a back four but showed some grit and urgency as they chased a winner. A minute from time, some pressure on the visitors gave Bowman possession but his ambitious drive from 30 yards was straight into Kelly’s arms.

Then in injury time, a Steven Lawless corner was directed towards goal but the combined efforts of Carson and Campbell cleared the ball of the line and leave both teams settling for a share of the points.