St Johnstone v Hibs preview: Betfred Cup team news, referee, starting XI, how to watch, match odds

Hibs travel to Hampden on Saturday to take on St Johnstone in the Betfred Cup semi-finals.

Jamie Murphy in action for Hibs in their last meeting with St Johnstone

The winners of the match will face Livingston or St Mirren, who do battle at the national stadium on Sunday.

Hibs won the first league encounter with the Saints at McDiarmid Park thanks to an injury-time penalty from Stevie Mallan, while the teams shared the points in the return match at Easter Road with Paul McGinn netting twice and Ali McCann and David Wotherspoon on target for Callum Davidson’s men.

St Johnstone have won just three of their last 14 matches, with two of those wins coming in the Betfred Cup and the other last weekend against St Mirren. Hibs, meanwhile,

Hibs have seven wins in their last 14 matches with three victories in the League Cup and four in Scottish Premiership fixtures.

Team news: Jack Ross has spoken of his relief at having more bodies to choose from going into this last-four tie. Goalkeeper Ofir Marciano could return between the sticks after Matt Macey deputised against Celtic and Kilmarnock, and Joe Newell will also hope to feature after missing the 2-0 win against Killie with a knock. The line-up Jack Ross picks could depend on whether Newell is fit enough to play.

Possible line-up w/o Newell (4-2-3-1): Marciano; P McGinn, Porteous, Hanlon, Doig; Gogic, Hallberg; Boyle, Irvine, Murphy; Nisbet. Subs from: Macey, Gray, McGregor, Stevenson, Magennis, Mallan, Cadden, Wright, Allan, Gullan, Doidge.

Possible line-up w/ Newell (4-1-4-1): Marciano; P McGinn, Porteous, Hanlon, Doig; Gogic; Boyle, Hallberg, Newell, Murphy; Nisbet. Subs from: Macey, Gray, McGregor, Stevenson, Magennis, Mallan, Irvine, Cadden, Wright, Allan, Gullan, Doidge.

Match details: Saturday January 23; kick-off 5.30pm, Hampden Park, Glasgow

How to watch: The semi-final is only being shown on Premier Sports, so any fans keen to watch the game will have to sign up to the channel – details here.

Key stat: St Johnstone haven’t won at Hampden since 1987 – and even then, that was a game in the old Second Division against Queen’s Park. They’ve also played two League Cup semi-finals against Hibs and lost both. Hibs, meanwhile, haven’t won at Hampden since they beat Rangers 3-2 in the Scottish Cup final in 2016. They’ve had four trips since – two League Cup semi-finals against Celtic; and two Scottish Cup semi-finals against Aberdeen and Hearts.

Referee: Nick Walsh is the man in the middle for this cup tie; his first national semi-final. He most recently took charge of Hibs’ 1-1 draw with Celtic in Glasgow, and will be assisted at the national stadium by Calum Spence and John McCrossan, with Colin Steven appointed as fourth official.

Hibs have won every cup tie they have played that has been overseen by Walsh but his only previous match involving both the Capital club and St Johnstone ended in a 1-0 win for the Saints at Easter Road in November 2018 with Joe Shaughnessy scoring a 90th-minute winner.

Match odds: St Johnstone 21/10 Draw 11/5 Hibs 5/4 (odds supplied by McBookie).

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