Morton aim to cause Scottish Cup shock against Motherwell

With a big turnout expected from both sets of supporters, the two sides fresh from resounding 5-0 wins, the BBC cameras in town and the tie being played to a finish, it has all the ingredients of being a fascinating clash.

Morton couldn't be going into the game in better shape.

Last Saturday's 5-0 thrashing of Dunfermline on their own patch took the Greenock men's remarkable unbeaten run to 12 games - nine draws and three wins - and carried them to within five points of third-placed Partick.

Having clawed their way back up the table from the bottom, they are now four points clear in the final promotion play-off slot, and have a positive goal difference thanks to their exploits in Fife.

Even allowing for the end of the injury crisis which blighted the opening few months of the campaign and left them toiling, the turnaround has been astonishing.

There is a real feelgood factor around the club at the moment, with the upturn on the pitch allied to plenty of positive developments off it, not least the new contract for the manager and the extended deals he has secured a number of his players on.

With Dougie Imrie's men on a red-hot run and confidence surging through the camp, the draw was classed by many as having upset-potential as soon as it was made and this was probably a key factor in it ending up on television.

But they will be facing opposition who are on an upward curve as well.

Motherwell are unbeaten in six and smashed five past Ross County on Tuesday night, as they begin to hit their stride after a difficult first half of the Premiership campaign.

Stuart Kettlewell's side have until now been embroiled in the fight to get away from the drop zone and they weren't terribly convincing in the last round at home against lower league opposition in Alloa, but they seem to be leaving those troubles behind them.

They are understandably classed as favourites to go through, but all the same you imagine they'd likely have been much more comfortable if this game was being played at Fir Park and not in the cauldron of Cappielow, as their away record isn't great.

Unless things fall very flat very suddenly for Ton, the suspicion is that the visitors will know that they have been in a game by 9.15pm this evening - it could be too close to call and might even go beyond the 90 minutes.

Imrie has called for the home support to pack the ground out and be a twelfth man for his players as they bid to defy the odds and reach the quarter finals.

If they could pull that off then it would be a tremendous achievement and underscore the progress that has been made since the manager arrived just over two years ago.

One of his first matches in charge was away against 'Well in the cup, and it took a late extra time comeback for the home side to advance on that occasion, with an injury time winner.

Ton put up a great fight that afternoon and were very unlucky in the end, but they are in a much better place now compared to back then.

They produced a superb display to dismantle Dunfermline at East End Park last weekend.

Having lost to the Pars in the two prior meetings, it looked like a tough afternoon was in prospect in Fife and one where the margins would be tight.

In the end Ton won at an absolute canter as everything clicked into place for them in a true team performance where they hounded their opposite numbers into mistake after mistake.

The comprehensive scoreline was a fair reflection of an utterly dominant performance from start to finish.

It spoke volumes about how strong they are right now, and was notable too for the fact that they racked up yet another clean sheet.

The defensive mean streak they have rediscovered over the last couple of months has been pivotal to their revival.

If they can carry that on into tonight then it could be absolutely crucial to the final outcome, as they will definitely carry a threat at the top end of the pitch through George Oakley and Robbie Muirhead.

'Well have been able to add to their squad during the January transfer window, bringing in Andy Halliday, Sam Nicholson and Adam Devine, but it is striker Theo Bair who has been their key man of late, with six goals in his last five league games, and he will have to be carefully policed.

With both sides coming into the game off the back of big victories, this could be a real old fashioned end-to-end cup cracker.

Morton will hope that home advantage and a noisy Cowshed could give them that crucial edge.