St Mirren are confident of confirming the signing of Andrew Dorman when the transfer window opens, with manager Gus MacPherson in a rush to complete a deal for the New England Revolution midfielder.

An 18-month contract, with the option of a further year, has been agreed in principle with the 25-year-old and while MacPherson is still awaiting international clearance for Dorman, the club has already begun his registration process with the SFA.

Dorman has featured for the New England Revolution for the past three years and helped Steve Nicol's side win the US Open Cup this year and MacPherson revealed: "Andrew has been in but I'm not sure when the deal is going to be concluded, it's not finalised yet.

"But we have brought him over and I hope we can get it concluded sooner rather than later. It's beyond just having him over to have a look at him, we want to bring him in. So now it is just a case of getting it concluded.

"The deal would be for a year and a half with an option of another year. It's not signed yet but we're close to it. It's just down to the formalities now.

"We've still got to get international clearance but those wheels are in motion.

By all accounts the Americans are slow with this type of thing but we've asked for permission on it now with the SFA."

MacPherson moved quickly to entice Dorman to Love Street after discovering he was keen to return to Britain after three seasons in the MLS.

"Andrew is an old-fashioned box to box midfielder," added the St Mirren manager. "He was recommended to us and then we did our homework on him. We spoke to a few people about him and received nothing but positive reports.

"I hope he can have an impact here. People have said what he's capable of doing, he's got good fitness.

"He went to America on a football scholarship and Stevie Nicol picked him up on one of the draft picks. He's a really determined character and made an impression over there, at a high level of football. I think he's played over 100 games for them and they've done well."

MacPherson has also told his players to expect an Aberdeen backlash tomorrow, with the St Mirren manager determined to build on his side's fine win against Hearts at Tynecastle.

Following their UEFA Cup heroics and a point against Rangers, Aberdeen were held to a 1-1 draw by Gretna on Boxing Day and MacPherson said: "Aberdeen will be hurting and I've seen that look in Jimmy Calderwood's eyes before.

"Teams when they are hurting can be very, very dangerous so we've got to be ready for that."

With St Mirren only having won twice at home this season, MacPherson's message to his players was clear. "We owe our home fans a performance. It's time to do it.