The magic of the cup sometimes throws up some interesting fixtures.
With only SPL and First Division teams remaining in the competition, there's many a senior team that looks upon a game against lower league opposition with some trepidation. Witness for example Hibs and Hearts' exit in the last round, or Aberdeen's exit on penalties to Queens Park two years ago in the same competition. Of the five SPL teams in last nights round of games, only one - St. Mirren - didn't make it into the next round, beaten 2-0 away at Dunfermline. Celtic, Falkirk, Dundee United and Inverness Caley all progressed.
Tonight sees the conclusion to the games in this third-round, when Rangers travel across the river to Firhill and their game against Partick Thistle and Aberdeen travel south to Kilmarnock. Of most interest though is the tie at Motherwell's Fir Park for the game against their rivals from across the motorway, Hamilton Academicals.
If you threw a stone hard enough across the motorway that divides the two towns, you'd probably make the other side. As derby games go, this is not on the same level as say, an Old Firm derby but given the proximity and the infrequency with which these teams face each other, tonight is something of a special evening. Their last meeting was in August 2005, ironically in the same competition. Motherwell came out 2-1 winners on the night thanks to goals from Scott McDonald and James Hamilton. Accies, then in the First Division having been promoted from the Second Division the year before, finished third in the season that brought St. Mirren to the SPL.
Motherwell find themselves near the foot of the table, pretty much the complete opposite of where they spent most of last season. Disappointing results such as the opening day loss to Hearts, the narrow defeats to Aberdeen and Rangers, as well as the 2-4 thumping by Celtic the week before last have made for an uncomfortable start to this latest campaign. Hamilton on the other hand have so far exceeded expectations by forging a set of results that saw them top the table after two games. Currently in sixth place, the Accies can look back on a good fightback against Aberdeen the other week for an example of the kind of form that saw them crowned First Division champions with several weeks of the season still to go. While last weeks defeat to Hibs and, before that, Hearts and Kilmarnock, came against teams above them in the league, worthy of note is that the Accies only two wins this season came against teams that are below them in the league (Caley, Aberdeen and United). Given that kind of form, you'd expect the Accies to pull off another win tonight. But wins against their more illustrious Lanarkshire cousins are hard to come by. In their 117 meetings, Motherwell have emerged winners on 60 occasions while Hamilton can claim 32 scalps. In fact, you'd have to go back to the last meeting between the two in the 1988/89 season for Accies last win against Motherwell.
But Motherwell are hurting after those back to back defeats to Rangers, Nancy and Celtic and their standing as, according to manager Mark McGhee anyway, the 'senior' club in the area is at stake (along with any bragging rights) should they lose tonight. So with more than just the next round of a largely insignificant Cup at stake, this is going to be one of those games that's either going to turn into a classic 6-6 after penalties, or a dreary encounter following a simple tap-in in the first minute. Neither team have reported any additional injuries since the weekend, so a nearly full selection will be available to both Reid and McGhee.
Aberdeen make another long journey south for their game against Kilmarnock. Following on from last weeks poor display against Dundee United (the Dons have yet to win a game at home this season), Jimmy Calderwood will be hoping to get a win against a Kilmarnock side that have been impressive so far this season. If nothing else, Aberdeen are lucky to be playing Kilmarnock; a defeat against a fellow SPL team would not be as bad as a defeat to lower league opposition (Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup last season for example) and while the pressure on Calderwood and Nicholl continues unabated, they might be forgiven for losing against an in-form side. Aberdeen head south without the injured Andrew Considine, while both Darren Mackie, who picked up a knock in Saturdays game, as well as Richard Forster who had an unusually good game at right back against United are expected to be fit. For Killie, Danny Invincible and David Hay are both unavailable for selection, having picked up injuries in Saturdays 3-1 defeat to Celtic.
It took two attempts for Rangers to get past Partick Thistle in the Scottish Cup last season, so everyone at Ibrox is aware of another potential banana-skin moment. Rangers however are flying in the league at the minute while Thistle are second in the First division following their 2-1 win at bottom club Morton at the weekend. Doubts remain over keeper Alan McGregor and the exact reasons for his exclusion from the first team. The back-up to Craig Gordon in the Scotland goal was controversially dropped after his clanger against Kilmarnock two weeks ago, though stories have begun to leak out that Smith dropped the 26 year-old because of his somewhat unsavoury off-field antics. Whichever it is, Neil Alexander will take up position between the posts tonight.
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