St Mirren have been handed a potentially tricky draw for this season's Premier Sports Cup.
With regionalisation removed for this year’s competition after six years of the North/South split in the group stage, the Buddies could have faced anyone outside the top seeds.
Having been drawn out of pot 1 into group E, the Saints will face Championship side Arbroath who narrowly missed out on promotion to the top flight after running Kilmarnock very close for the title.
The Paisley side will also face League One clubs Airdrieonians and Edinburgh City, with the capital team having just been promoted up to the third tier, as well as Lowland League outfit Cowdenbeath.
And depending on the fixture draw, with the Buddies facing four games over the five potential dates, Stephen Robinson's side will likely kick start their campaign on the weekend of July 9/10, before facing a midweek clash on July 12/13.
Three more dates follow on the weekend of July 16/17, the midweek of July 19/20 before the final tie on the weekend of July 23/24.
With the draw now complete, the final fixture list will be announced shortly. That will allow Buddies to prepare for some interesting away days in just over six weeks' time, with a trip to Gayfield Park high on many fans' wishlists.
In the same competition last season St Mirren got off to the easiest start possible after being awarded a walkover win over Dumbarton, who were unable to field a team due to a coronavirus outbreak.
They followed that up with a 1-0 win against Dunfermline in Paisley, with 500 lucky Saints fans allowed back into the SMISA Stadium for the first time since the pandemic began. Curtis Main headed home the decisive goal.
A routine 3-1 victory over Stenhousemuir at Ochilview Park was folllowed up by a 2-0 home win against Partick Thistle, with the Buddies drawn to play Livingston away in the second round after topping Group H.
Alan Forrest gave the Lions the lead in the first half, before defender Conor McCarthy struck late to force the game to extra-time.
The tie was eventually decided on penalties, with the West Lothian side coming out on top after Curtis Main blazed wide and Max Stryjek denied Kyle McAllister and Cammy MacPherson from the spot.
In the 2020/21 edition of the League Cup St Mirren made it all the way to the semi-finals, only to be defeated 1-0 at Hampden Park by David Martindale’s Livingston once again with Scott Robinson grabbing the crucial winner.
St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson has some form in the League Cup, having guided Motherwell to the final in 2017 during his first full season in charge at Fir Park.
The Steelmen beat Rangers 2-0 at Hampden in the semi-finals thanks to an impressive brace from Louis Moult, setting up a return to the national stadium to face Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic.
In a tight final the Hoops finally broke Motherwell’s resistance when James Forrest opened the scoring in the second half, with Moussa Dembele wrapping up the tie from the penalty spot when Cedric Kipre was controversially sent off.
That denied Robinson a chance to write himself into Motherwell folklore, but he’ll be desperate to do the same again in what will be the tenth anniversary year of the Buddies’ last League Cup win come the final.
That is due to take place on Sunday, February 26, 2023, having been pushed back due to this year's World Cup which kicks off in Qatar in November.
