GARY McALLISTER believes St Mirren won't get a better chance than tonight to pick up their first points of the season.

Tommy Craig's side travel the short distance to take on Partick Thistle at Firhill looking to stop the rot following five successive defeats.

With Saints' next two league matches at home to Celtic then away to Aberdeen, McAllister - a pundit for BT Sport at tonight's live broadcast - thinks Craig will have pinpointed this game against their local rivals as the most realistic opportunity to pick up points before the end of the month.

He said: "Managers say they don't look at fixture lists and plan ahead but I would imagine Tommy may have looked at this game as one they're capable of winning against a team that's probably going to end up in their half of the table.

"If they can get a result then it alleviates the pressure a bit and it becomes something to build on. But teams who concede soft goals and don't take their chances tend to find themselves towards the foot of the table before too long."

McAllister worked under Craig when the latter man was part of the coaching set-up with the national team.

The former Motherwell, Leeds United and Liverpool star believes Craig has what it takes to turn things around but knows the St Mirren boss will be under no illusions as to the likely outcome should he fail to do so.

He added: "This is a critical game for St Mirren and Tommy is experienced enough to know that. You don't expect to see six-pointers after five games but this game has got that look about it.

"Tommy, though, will be pushing his own situation to the back of his mind. He's been around football a long, long time and is fully aware that being sacked is part of the gig.

"If you don't win games as manager your job becomes increasingly in danger. But he'll try to keep that away from the players and try to convince them that they're on the right path and things could yet turn for them.

"The most important thing for St Mirren now is that everyone sticks together and believe in what the manager is preaching.

"As soon as there is division there with one group of players going one way, and another going the other, then it becomes untenable and impossible to get away from the position they're in. All they need, however, is one wee rub of the green."

Tonight's game sees Isaac Osbourne back at the side he played for last season and the St Mirren midfielder hopes it will be a happy return.

He said: "We were unfortunate against Kilmarnock the other day as I thought we at least should have got away with a draw. But we just have to keep working hard in training and hopefully we can get a result on Friday."

Partick Thistle v St Mirren is exclusively live on BT Sport 1 from 7.30pm tonight. BT Sport will bring fans 11 live SPFL matches before the end of November including Rangers v Hibs (September 29), Hibs v Hearts (October 26) and Hearts v Rangers (November 22). Visit btsport.com for information.