Motherwell and Kilmarnock meet at Fir Park on Sunday as the Premier Sports Cup knockout stage begins.
While Stuart Kettlewell’s backroom boys were tending to the growing list of ‘Well casualties, Derek McInnes was preparing for a UEFA Conference League qualifier in Tromso.
Despite the restricted choice available to the Motherwell manager he was able to speak in positive terms after Saturday’s narrow defeat at Hampden. There was disappointment when Apostolos Stamatelopoulos limped off the field before the break and the news that he will be sidelined for six weeks was softened somewhat by the arrival of the familiar face of Tony Watt.
The SPFL’s League Cup rules exclude the group stage of the competition from the rule that otherwise would have cup-tied the forward and it he will be eligible for Sunday’s tie.
Kilmarnock faced a humbling 3-0 home defeat to St Johnstone last weekend on the back of the opening 4-0 loss at Parkhead. A late goal produced a 2-2 draw in the first leg with Tromso but confidence is not at its highest in the Killie squad.
Now that the group stage is behind us, Sunday’s tie reverts to extra time and penalties if needed. Neither team seem to be in goal scoring form so there may be a long afternoon in store after a goalless 90 minutes, 0-0.