Rangers and Mark Warburton have got good reason to be wary of Blair Alston at McDiarmid Park tonight.
Twice the midfielder has scored spectacular goals against them in the calendar year – for Falkirk to spark a famous comeback win in March, and at Ibrox a few months ago for his new club St Johnstone in a 1-1 draw.
And if he could make it a 2016 hat-trick against the Glasgow club, it would be a very impressive achievement.
“I’d take another one in this game if I could,” he said.
“I don’t think the goal at Ibrox is the best I have scored. The volley I got for Falkirk against Hamilton in the Scottish Cup a few years ago is my favourite. I have been living off that for about three years.
“The goals that are remembered are those that fly into the top corner but if one bounces off my leg and rolls in against Rangers I’d be delighted with that was well.
“Last season at Falkirk we did well against Rangers at home and picked up a couple of wins so hopefully that can continue here.
“We got a point at Ibrox earlier in the season and it would be perfect for us if we can get a win this time.
“That game at Ibrox was maybe as well as we have played all season. We passed the ball well, kept a good shape and limited them to very few chances. We could maybe have scored another couple of goals. It was a good point but we could have left with all three.”
If the October Rangers draw was one highlight of his short Saints career, Friday night’s win at Kilmarnock was another.
Alston said: “We limited Kilmarnock to very few chances and didn’t look like conceding after we got our goal.
“We got the three points we wanted so it was a good start to the Christmas period.
“There won’t be many teams that enjoy playing against us. We work hard to make sure we are difficult to break down.
“We have been showing recently that we aren’t an easy team to score against and we are always going to create chances. Hopefully we can keep this run of form going and pick up a few more points before the break.
“We are confident going into this match with Rangers and we know we will give them a good game. And hopefully we will get the win.”