St Mirren hope to get past hosts Ayr United tonight but are not thinking it is a formality.

Ayr will welcome St Mirren from the SPL tonight in the Co-operative Insurance Cup second round and manager Brian Reid could be able to name Martyn Campbell for the game. Campbell was back in training last week after struggling recently with a thigh strain. Tonight's visitors defeated the Honest Men 1-0 in a pre-season friendly but manager Reid does not think that result will give and true indications as to how things will go tonight as progress to the third round of a cup competition is at stake. He said: "That game seems a long way away now and I don't imagine it will have much bearing on the outcome here. If anything it will be more difficult for us.''

St Mirren are boosted by the return of Steven Thomson who missed Saturday's league goalless draw with Dundee United thanks to serving a suspension. However, Chris Innes (hamstring strain) is set to sit out the visit to Somerset Park. Manager Gus MacPherson in not willing to suffer going out of the competition to a team from the Fisrt Division two years in a row. There is no chance of the SPL side taking Ayr lightly despite being favourites to progress. MacPherson does not like to look back to this time last year when Saints were sent crashing out of the third round by Dunfermline at East End Park. Having spent the last couple of seasons in the top flight, MacPherson believes the gulf between the First Division and the SPL is not as great as some people may think.

He said: "There are three or four foreign lads in the squad and they might not understand as much. But the Scottish lads in the squad know what it's all about, they understand how competitive the First Division can be. The standard is not that far away from some of the teams in the SPL and it wasn't so long ago we were in the First Division ourselves so we know what to expect. You want to make sure you are up for it - whether it is a league game or a cup game. This is the third game in 11 days but we have to make sure we are ready to play to a good standard."

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