Craig Fowler of The Terrace Scottish Football Podcast chooses his top XI from the weekend’s SPFL action, naming Shane Sutherland as his star man.
GK - Colin McCabe (Stenhousemuir)
Goals change games. Stenhousemuir might have scored five without reply at promotion-chasing Airdrie, but it might not have been that way for the league's bottom club if they had conceded the opening goal, which they would have done when David Marsh almost inadvertently headed into his own net. McCabe was on hand to pull off a terrific one-handed stop, and he repeated the trick late in the match to deny the hosts a consolation.
DC - Marcus Fraser (Ross County)
Solid performance from the full-back/centre-back in County's 0-0 draw with Dundee. Though the Staggies were held they were the stronger side through most of the half, aided by the play of their full-backs, who were effective at both ends of the park.
DC - Scott Boyd (Kilmarnock)
Motherwell threw a lot at Kilmarnock in the match at Fir Park, but couldn't break through the stubborn visiting defence. Boyd was the stand-out performer in the centre, as Kilmarnock rode some first-half Motherwell pressure and looked increasingly comfortable as the game went on.
DC - David Marsh (Stenhousemuir)
Thankful to his goalkeeper for stopping a goal at the wrong end, Marsh proceeded to net twice into the Airdrie goal, including a scrappy finish following a set-piece which put the underdogs well on the way to victory. Aside from becoming an unlikely hero in attack, he performed his defensive duties with aplomb.
MR - Rocco Quinn (St Mirren)
Since returning to the Buddies midfield, Quinn has given the previously ailing side a lift, with two victories in their past two games. He was excellent again as St Mirren made it consecutive victories against Raith Rovers, thanks to Lewis Morgan's goal shortly after half-time.
MC - Stuart Armstrong (Celtic)
Shall we just call this the Stuart Armstrong XI from now on? It may smack of favouritism - though it cannot be denied he has wonderful hair - but if you watch Armstrong's performances, you'll agree he deserves his current streak in TOTW. Against Partick Thistle he not only netted twice, but helped lift a lacklustre Celtic in the opening half with some energetic and intelligent running around the Thistle rearguard.
MC - Barrie McKay (Rangers)
The young playmaker has taken a while to get started this season but he looked back to his best as Rangers got revenge on Hearts at Ibrox. It was a reversal of the scorelines the last time the teams met, and a reversal of performances with Rangers vastly outplaying their visitors. McKay was excellent throughout and managed to bag the crucial second goal.
ML - Alan Cook (Stenhousemuir)
The left-footed midfielder scored one - an excellent curling free-kick - and helped set up two with his set-piece deliveries as Stenny shocked Airdrie at the Excelsior Stadium. It was truly the upset of the weekend in Scottish football, seeing as Airdrie went into the match against the league's bottom side with a six-game winning streak.
FC - Stephen Dobbie (Queen of the South)
Nursing a seven-game losing streak in the Championship and travelling to third place Falkirk, there wasn't much hope for Queens this past weekend. However, they were able to leave the Falkirk Stadium with a point thanks to an inspired performance from Dobbie, who netted in the 2-2 draw.
FC - Leigh Griffiths (Celtic)
Brendan Rodgers will be nursing a selection headache after picking Griffiths over Moussa Dembele on Friday night and watching the deputy striker tear apart the Jags back-line. The ravenous predator assisted two and scored one as Celtic thrashed Thistle at Firhill.
FC - Shane Sutherland (Elgin City)
Another favourite of this team, Sutherland assured himself of a place this past weekend with a hat-trick against Berwick Rangers in Elgin's 6-0 rout. The treble took Sutherland to 11 league goals for the season, moved his team to within two points of leaders Forfar, and earned him the star man award in this side.
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