St. Mirren vs Brann Match Preview

The gauntlet that is Europe Conference League qualifying heats up on Thursday in the third qualifying stage, with many up and coming sides looking to make their mark on European football this season.

St. Mirren, who are the only Scottish team in this stage of the competition, are set to take on Norwegian Eliteserien runners up of 2023 Brann, in what promises to be an even contest likely to be decided on small margins.

🐼 St Mirren would face the winners of Corvinul 1921 Hunedoara🇷🇴 vs Astana🇰🇿 in ECL playoff round - if they beat SK Brann in QR3 (1st leg is Thursday)

Playoff round:

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Home leg August 22nd
✈️ Away leg in Romania or Kazakhstan August 29th

— Scotland’s Coefficient (@scotlandscoeff1) August 5, 2024

As the crucial tie moves to within 48 hours from now, we take a look into team news, recent form, last season's performance, and key players to watch, and investigate what could make the vital difference come Thursday evening.

How did St. Mirren and Brann do in the previous round?

As both teams entered the qualification stage in the second round of the qualifying rounds, both have only had one two-legged competitive European tie this season.

Brann overwhelmed Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles in their fixture, who finished 9th in the Eredivisie last season, winning 5-3 on aggregate. They trailed in the first leg, but goals either side of half time from captain Fredrik Knudsen and center forward Bard Finne gave them a narrow 2-1 lead after the home leg in Bergen, Norway.

The second leg saw them outscore their Dutch opponents, winning a pulsating encounter 3-2. Finne scored the opener, and saw an unfortunate own goal and a strike from Sander Erik Kartum back up his effort, and even a late consolation from the eagles couldn’t panic the Norwegians.

Brann vs Go Ahead Eagles 🇪🇺@Bataljonen_no | @LasseAndersen97 (📷) | @DannyLast (🎥) pic.twitter.com/Ve294UQ51C

— Football Norway (@NorwayFooty) August 6, 2024

St. Mirren also moved through comfortably, although had to wait until the second leg to really get going. They faced Valur Reykjavik, runners up in the Icelandic top league in 2023, and after the away leg, the tie remained at 0-0.

St. Mirren welcomed the Icelandics to St. Mirren Park knowing anything was possible (Euro 2016 against England anyone?), but they held their nerve brilliantly, eventually galloping to a 4-1 win thanks to second half goals from striker Toyosi Olusanya, midfielder Mark O’Hara and right back Shaun Rooney.

Finishing fifth in the Scottish Premiership after the championship round was completed, St. Mirren took up the last available qualification spot, and will now be hoping to make good on that achievement.

St. Mirren and Brann Top Scorers

There is one factor, above all others, that will play a key part in this tie. St. Mirren have a season similar to the English Premier League, playing out their campaign across two separate calendar years, from August through to May. As a result, they only played their first league game of the season on Sunday 4th August, a 3-0 win over Hibernian.

Brann, on the other hand, have the benefit of playing their season across one calendar year, from April through to October/November time. They benefit from this due to their entire squad being completely match fit, and well into the swing of things in terms of competitive football.

As a result, their forward men have had time to find their feet. After 18 league games this season, Aune Selland Heggebo leads the way with 6 goals, with defender Joachim Soltvedt currently running second with 5. Scorer in both games against Go Ahead Eagles Bard Finne rounds out the top three with 4 goals.

St. Mirren, after three games this season, have only one player currently on two goals, this being 24 year old midfielder Oisin Smyth. However, last season, former Colchester United striker Mikael Mandron topped the goal scoring charts with 8, while Mark O’Hara and Toyosi Olusanya both finished on 6.

🔥 "A pinpoint header!"

Rangers' lead did not last long after Mikael Mandron equalised for St Mirren ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/3YQM6XYcf8

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) April 28, 2024

St. Mirren vs Brann Team News

Thanks to their lack of competitive games, St. Mirren are able to boast a full complement of players for this one, giving them the highest possible chance of coming out of this one victorious.

Brann, despite being in the middle of their domestic league season, are also able to pick every player in their squad. The only player to keep an eye on will be right back Thore Baardsen Pedersen, who recently returned from injury after Brann’s 5-1 defeat to Bodo/Glimt a month previously.

With a full selection of players available for both sides, expect the pair of them to pick their strongest possible squads for this one.

St. Mirren vs Brann Predicted Lineups

St. Mirren (4-3-3):

Balcombe (GK), Rooney, Fraser, Taylor, Brown, Smyth, Gogic, O’Hara, Ayunga, Olusanya, Mandron.

Brann (4-3-3):

Dyngeland (GK), Pedersen, Knudsen, Kristiansen, Soltvedt, Kornvig, Khartoum, Myhre, Warming, Finne, Castro.

St. Mirren vs Brann Player to Watch

It may be the early stages of St. Mirren’s season, but midfielder Oisin Smyth seems to have come out of the blocks very quickly. He did not even start their victory against Hibernian, but it would have been a much closer outcome had he not been introduced with 20 minutes to go.

Two goals in three minutes with 10 minutes left made the win comfortable for St. Mirren, and with his brilliant cameo off the bench, he has likely earned a starting spot for this crunch game.

Formerly of Oxford United when they were in League one, he left the U’s for more minutes and hopefully with a breakthrough season this year for St. Mirren, he can finally find what he left England for.

🚀 Roland Idowu stunner
🔄 Super sub Oisin Smyth
🫣 Defensive blunder

St Mirren followed up their European success with a convincing 3-0 Premiership win over Hibernian ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/xs2vLmRAwE

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 4, 2024

Where can I watch St. Mirren vs Brann?

The game will not receive any live TV coverage, but text commentary will be available on BBC sport, as well as any football news app the reader uses.