Your guide to the Premiership play-off final
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St Mirren and Partick Thistle will meet over two matches to determine who will play in the Scottish Premiership next season.
After finishing second in the Championship, Thistle got the better of Dunfermline Athletic to give themselves a shot at ending their eight-year absence from the top-flight.
St Mirren, who won the League Cup back in December, finished second bottom of the Premiership and are trying to extend their eight-year stay.
Here is all you need to know in preparation for the play-off final, which starts on Thursday night at Firhill.
How did both sides get here?
St Mirren have had one of the most succesful seasons in their history after beating Celtic in December's Premier Sports Cup final.
It was the club's second League Cup triumph and the summit of their four-year era under Stephen Robinson which also included three top-six finishes.
But the Premiership has been a struggle for them all season. St Mirren were 10th when Robinson left for Aberdeen in March and interim manager Craig McLeish struggled to stop the rot.
A run of four defeats in a row without scoring came just as Kilmarnock hit form under Neil McCann, which consigned St Mirren to 11th place and the play-off.
They ended the regular season having scored 10 fewer goals than even Livingston below them, with their productivity up top ultimately costing them as well as a host of injuries.
Partick Thistle have naturally had a more enjoyable season to get themselves into this position.
They pushed eventual winners St Johnstone until the final few games in the Championship title race, eventually finishing 11 points adrift of Saints but 15 clear of third-place Arbroath.
That earned Mark Wilson's side a place in the play-off semi-final, where they defeated Scottish Cup finalists Dunfermline 3-2 on aggregate after a second-leg home win.
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Watch the goals as Thistle reach play-off final
Who are the favourites?
As the Premiership side and with the second leg at home St Mirren will start as favourites - but only just.
McLeish has won three of his 10 games in interim charge, though performances have been decent at times, including in the most recent win over Aberdeen and draw with Dundee United.
The 36-year-old believes he is the "best person to take the club forward" from next season regardless of what division St Mirren are in.
"The results maybe haven't gone our way and ultimately it wasn't enough to avoid a play-off spot," McLeish said.
"But it's not like we're looking like a team that are lost or don't know what they're doing or are low in confidence.
"We're confident as a group but we have to go in with confidence but not complacency."
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McLeish says players deserve to be 'legends'
The sides have already played this season in the Scottish Cup, a closely-fought 2-1 win for St Mirren in Paisely in what turned out to be Robinson's last game.
Partick Thistle will take confidence from how they pinned St Mirren back for long spells and will not fear coming to Paisley for the second leg.
Firstly, they will look to capitalise on their strong home form given Celtic, in the League Cup, are the only side to win at Firhill this season.
"I feel we're really ready for these two games coming up and I feel we'd be ready to join the Premiership," Wilson told BBC Scotland.
"When you see the support that will turn out on Thursday night, I feel that would be a welcome addition to the Premiership.
"They will be desperate to survive and we're desperate to get out of the Championship."
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Partick Thistle are 'ready' for Premiership
How you can follow play-off final
Partick Thistle v St Mirren
Scottish Premiership Play-off Final
21/05/2026
Listen on SoundsWatch on iPlayerFollow live audio commentary on BBC Radio Scotland Extra and BBC Sounds, text coverage on BBC Sport app and website. Highlights on BBC iPlayer.
The first leg is on Thursday night at Firhill with kick-off at 20:00 BST, before the return at SMISA Stadium on Monday 25 May at the same time.
There will live commentary of both games on BBC Radio Scotland Extra and BBC Sounds, with Sportsound on air from 19:00 BST on Thursday for the first leg.
You can follow live text coverage on the BBC Sport app and website as well, while Sportscene will show highlights at 22:30 on BBC Scotland and iPlayer.
Monday's highlights are on at the later time of 23:00.
Sky Sports are showing both matches live.
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