Stephen Robinson believes St Mirren have all the incentive they require when they travel to Tynecastle on Saturday.
The Buddies are behind Hearts only on goal difference having played a game more, and a victory in Edinburgh will take the visitors back into third place in the cinch Premiership.
After losing three games in a row the Buddies bounced back with a win over Ross County and a draw against Motherwell, and the St Mirren boss is looking for more Christmas cheer.
The Northern Irishman said: “It is an opportunity to go into third place. We are joint-third, behind on goal difference but to go outright in third would be a big statement.
“It would be three games unbeaten which means you then start to get a little bit of momentum going into the Christmas period.
“If I said at the start of the season we would have a chance to be third in the league just before December 25 then everyone would have taken it, including myself so it is certainly a carrot and something to look forward to.
“The expectation is all on Hearts. The disparity between the two clubs, the Hearts fans will be expecting to beat us.
“We have to make sure we remain in the game, make sure we are very hard to break down, which we usually are, and then we can play our own game.
“I believe we have players in the forward areas who can hurt them, we have done in the past so it is a game we want to take to Hearts but we will do it our way and not go chasing the game.”
Keanu Baccus has been named in Australia’s 26-man squad for the Asia Cup and if the Socceroos go all the way, the Buddies will be without the midfielder until the middle of February.
Robinson said: “I am delighted for Keanu. It is a fantastic achievement. He is a big part of what Australia do.
“From a club point of view it is a big loss for us, we lose a player for maybe five to six games depending on how far Australia progress.”
