A win tomorrow against St Johnstone at Perth will see them go 14 points clear of Saints, so the Perth men must win to climb back into the promotion race.

And Dunfermline must beat Partick Thistle at East End Park to breathe new life into what, so far, has been a dreadful campaign.

Saints are again without long-term injury victims Kevin James and Steven Milne, while Martin Hardie is likely to miss out once more due to his groin injury.

Andy Jackson is a doubt due to a swollen ankle and Rocco Quinn has hardly trained this week due to injury.

But Kevin Rutkiewicz comes back into contention after being rested for the midweek Challenge Cup win over Brechin, Derek McInnes should have recovered from injury in time, and Peter MacDonald, who has been out, is in line for a place.

“Hamilton are top of the First Division on merit and had a great CIS Insurance Cup victory over Kilmarnock. But we’ve had three wins and two draws in our last five games and are looking to get another win,” said Saints team boss Owen Coyle.

Saints’ central defender Allan McManus was also in a winning frame of mind, stating, “We never think about being beaten. If we play as we can, we’ll win.”

Dunfermline will have to do without the injured Aaron Labonte, but could welcome back Greg Shields and Scott Wilson for the visit of Partick.

The Pars played well in spells against Hearts in the CIS Cup but eventually lost 4-1.

“We’ve been playing well enough in some games but need to start winning,” said manager Stephen Kenny. “It’s important to get three points tomorrow.”

Footnote — Tomorrow marks the last St Johnstone match for the Perth club’s Aggie Moffat, famous for her spat with then Rangers manager Graeme Souness. After 26 years with the club, Aggie retires on Tuesday.