CAPPIELOW hosts one of its biggest and most eagerly-awaited games in recent years tonight as Morton go head to head with Hearts in the Scottish Cup last eight.

The quarter final tie will be played to a packed crowd as well as being broadcast live on the BBC as Dougie Imrie's men aim to spring a massive upset by sealing a trip to Hampden in the last four of the competition.

After seeing off Premiership opposition in the last round in the form of Motherwell, and having home advantage again, a shock cannot be summarily discounted.

Greenock Telegraph:

But clearly the Jambos are a different kettle of fish to the Lanarkshire outfit, and undoubtedly red hot favourites to go through.

The scale of the task facing Imrie's side was only underlined last weekend when the men from the capital put Celtic to the sword 2-0 at Tynecastle.

Granted they played most of the match with a man advantage after an early red card, but this was the second time they have defeated the reigning champions this term.

Steven Naismith has an excellent squad at his disposal and his team are clearly established now as 'best of the rest' in the country, sitting a distance clear in third spot and a fairly respectable 13 and 15 adrift of the Old Firm behemoths.

There is also a huge gap between Ton and the Gorgie outfit, with the Greenock men outperforming their rank to make this stage of the competition as the last representatives from outwith the top flight.

They played terrifically to see off 'Well in the fifth round, but know they will have to reach even greater heights to follow it up.

So it's a real pity that the Greenock men go into the tie hampered by injuries to key individuals who have been instrumental in the superb 16-game unbeaten run they had put together.

The sequence came to end with the defeat to Inverness Caley at Cappielow a week past Saturday and there's no question that the absence of Ryan Mullen, Iain Wilson and George Oakley, allied to Jai Quitongo being ruled out as well, was a huge factor.

Ton then narrowly went down at home to Dundee United last Tuesday evening as their unforgiving schedule continued.

Greenock Telegraph:

Although Mullen and Quitongo were restored to the side, the pair were clearly not at full tilt with Morton once again stretched in terms of personnel as they enter the critical phase of the campaign with first the cup tie and then the final quarter of the league to determine whether they make the promotion play-offs or not.

Influential midfielder Wilson, who looks like being ruled out for the remainder of the season, will be sorely missed as he had been in tremendous form.

But the biggest loss of all has been Oakley, who carries the team's chief goal threat and is absolutely critical to the Morton gameplan as a physical presence and attacking focal point which defenders find so difficult to deal with.

Greenock Telegraph: George Oakley scores Morton's winner in fine style at a packed to the rafters Cappielow.

If as expected Ton are still without him this evening it will be a hammer blow to their prospects, but boss Imrie will not take it lying down.

He isn't the type to wilt in the face of adversity and that's a leadership quality which is reflected in his group of players - he will field a team to be competitive and give it everything they have got, hoping that the tight Cappielow pitch, tricky surface and raucous atmosphere can act as a leveller and spur them on.

The manager has also had the benefit of watching Hearts take on a club from his division, after they defeated Airdrie 4-1 in the previous round.

The scoreline wasn't a fair reflection of the game as the Diamonds played well and were a bit unfortunate on the day.

One lesson that can be learned from the tie is that if you are too open against them, Hearts will expose it brutally.

Ton cannot allow them to dictate and will have to close them down and put them under pressure, making the game much more uncomfortable than they found on the nice and even slick plastic pitch at Airdrie.

It won't be easy as the Gorgie outfit boast several attacking threats who can punish opposition defences, no one more so than the prolific Lawrence Shankland.

It's almost impossible to square the lean, mean and ultra-confident scoring machine of now with the sluggish underachiever who came to Cappielow for a forgettable six month loan from Aberdeen in 2017 and ended up unable to get a starting place in Jim Duffy's side ahead of the likes of Kudus Oyenuga.

Greenock Telegraph:

Shankland has been a man transformed over the last few years and is bang in form - if chances come his way tonight he is likely to take them, so Morton will have to be ultra concentrated and almost foot perfect at the back to shut him out.

When Ton have the ball they will have to find a way to pose the visitors problems, with the onus on ex-Jambo Robbie Muirhead and Quitongo if Oakley fails to make it.

Greenock Telegraph:

A huge test awaits but it is one the players have earned the right to contest, and they should relish it.

Hearts survived a scare earlier in the competition when they needed an injury minute winner to see off Spartans of League Two, so their passage to Greenock hasn't been all plain sailing.

Morton will need to rally from what's been a tough couple of weeks for them and find a whole new level if they are to defy the odds, but if anyone can coax more out of this group of players it is Imrie.