MORTON manager Jim Duffy is expecting an old-fashioned Scottish Cup tie when his side face Albion Rovers in the third round at Cliftonhill tomorrow.

The Coatbridge side, managed by former Ton midfielder Darren Young, are reigning League Two champions and currently sit third in League One.

Duffy and assistant Craig McPherson have both taken turns of watching their opposition over the last week and have been impressed with what they’ve seen.

According to the Ton boss, Rovers look to play football first and foremost – but he still expects them to attempt to make it as uncomfortable an afternoon as possible when his side come to town.

He told the Tele: “I think it will be a very competitive cup tie, and of course if you’re playing a team from a lower division then, invariably, they get in about you, close you down, and work hard.

“They will try to make you feel uncomfortable, try to make you feel as if you don’t want to be there. That’s the nature of it.

“We’ve played teams like Motherwell and St Johnstone at Cappielow, and we’ve tried to make it uncomfortable for them by keeping the tempo really high and not allowing them to settle.

“I’d envisage that Albion Rovers will be doing a similar thing. I’m sure they’ll make it extremely difficult for us, but we should be used to it.

“We were in the division [League One] last year and know what type of matches to expect and most of the guys were here last year, so we shouldn’t be in unfamiliar territory.

“I went [to watch Albion Rovers] on Saturday against Dunfermline and Craig went on Tuesday against Cowdenbeath. That gives us a different way of looking at it.

“We also got our usual report and watched a DVD of their match against Ayr United a couple of weeks ago, so we’ve done our homework, which we do for all the games.

“They’re in a not too dissimilar situation to we were at this time last season. We were up there challenging and they are up there challenging.

“They’ll have a bit of confidence about them because of how well they’ve done – not just over the last three or four weeks but the last 18 months. They’ve done very well and have good players.

“Recently they’ve came back from a goal down to take four points in their last two matches, so they’ve obviously got a bit of spirit about them allied to their ability.

“I’ve got no doubt this will be an extremely tough match, but from our point of view we just want to keep consistency levels high and to do that we’ve got to go there and play to the level we can.”

The Cliftonhill pitch, which was in a terrible state when Ton last played there back in November 2012, is expected to be heavy and Duffy says it is another factor his side will have to cope with.

He said: “They’ve had a couple of games off - the Cowdenbeath game was postponed a few times -and this going ahead will likely depend on if there is torrential rain between now and the game.

“We can’t say for sure at this moment, so we prepare for the game as normal and wait and see what the weather’s like. I’m not quite Sean Batty, so I don’t look [at the forecast] too often.

“But I’m sure the pitch will be a heavy, strength-sapping pitch one way or the other. It was saturated on Saturday and Craig said it was very heavy on Tuesday.

“So it will be something we have to go and deal with it – not every pitch is like Cappielow!

“Will we have to adapt our approach? We’ll have to wait and see what the conditions are like when we get there.

“It’s not always the game you want it to be. Sometimes you just have to roll your sleeves when it’s a cup tie.

“Sometimes you just need to get it forward into areas where you feel as if you can go and play and understand why you do it. If that’s what has to be done, that’s what has to be done.

“At this moment in time I can’t say what like it will be, but I know from watching them that they like to play a bit of football.

“So I don’t think it will be their preferred choice to lump it up the pitch either; they like to get it down and pass it.”

Ton progressed past Airdrie at this stage of the competition last term but went out in the fourth round, losing 2-1 away at Lowland League Spartans in what was a real upset.

Duffy, though, put that huge disappointment to bed long ago and has not let it affect his love of the Scotland’s premier cup competition.

He said: “The Spartans cup game isn’t something I think about. If every time I did an interview I mentioned I won the league then I think people would think I was a bit arrogant.

“So I wouldn’t like to think every time I get interviewed for the Scottish Cup for the next 10 years somebody’s going to mention Spartans.

“But that is the nature of it, it will be mentioned. It was a disappointing day, a day we let ourselves down and let the fans down - but it was a year ago.

“A test of good players and strong management is how you respond, and I think it was there for everybody to see that the response from the players was terrific.

“But it’s not just Morton who get a surprise in cup competitons; it happens to different teams every season.

“The top, top teams - Man U, Real Madrid - rarely win doubles. The great Liverpool side only did it twice or something like that.

“That’s because anything can happen in cup competitions. They are notorious all over the world for springing surprises.

“So we have to be ready to face the challenge that Albion Rovers will give and understand that there’s nothing guaranteed in football.

 “You want to win; you want to be in the cup. There’s nothing better than seeing who you get when the draw is made. It’s got that bit of excitement about it, that cup fever. It’s great.

“But you have to earn the right to be in the hat – and at the moment Albion Rovers have as much right to be in the next round as we have.”