Top-of-table Scottish Championship showdown starts live on BBC

Scottish Championship: Ayr United v St Johnstone

Venue: Somerset Park, Ayr Date: Friday, 12 December Kick-off: 19:45 GMT

This weekend marks the halfway point of the Scottish Championship season, with the top four sides all going head-to-head, but the big question is – will St Johnstone retain their place at the top of the pile?

The Perth side, relegated from the Premiership last season, have been the big hitters at the top since the starting gun sounded, but what once looked like being a procession is now anything but.

St Johnstone currently sit level on points with Partick Thistle – albeit with a superior goal difference.

But they lost to the Glasgow side three weeks ago and have failed to win any of their last three games.

“We had our way of playing when we started the season and maybe our opponents were not that familiar [with it],” he said.

“Now they start to see how we want to play, how they stop that. Again, we need to evolve our things that can counter what the opponent is doing.

“The basics and the foundations of how we do things are at a good level. Now, we need little tweaks – when we attack, how we can be more balanced in defence, attacking the box, how we can find this final pass.

“The basics are there, the foundations are there, the principles are there.”

Tonight, St Johnstone take on fourth-placed Ayr United at Somerset Park. Currently 11 points behind the leaders, Scott Brown’s side surely need a victory if they are to keep any title ambitions alive.

While St Johnstone’s midweek KDM Evolution match with Hearts B was postponed due to high winds in Edinburgh, Ayr’s match with Peterhead went ahead, with the Honest Men winning 2-1.

The good news for Ayr was a first goal of the season for striker Anton Dowds, who missed a year of football after suffering an ACL injury. The 29-year-old only returned to match action in September.

Before his injury last season, Dowds was one of the hottest strikers in the Championship and Brown will clearly be hoping he can return to that kind of form from now until the end of the season.

Thistle will be watching proceedings this evening with interest. Any slip up from Saints gives them the chance to grab top spot on Saturday.