Aberdeen will kick off their Scottish League Cup campaign on Friday, when they travel to take on Stirling Albion in a second-round tie.
The hosts progressed through the group stage in second place, while their visitors received a bye to this stage and will aim to book their place in the quarter-finals.
Match preview
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It has certainly been a busy start to the new campaign for Stirling Albion, who have already played seven competitive matches across all fronts since mid-July, including a run in Group A of the Scottish League Cup, which began with a draw and eventual penalty shootout defeat against Ayr United.
They would then score a first victory of the group stage by beating Alloa Athletic, before picking up a win by the same scoreline against Stenhousemuir, as Dale Carrick and Aaron Dunsmore got on the scoresheet.
Darren Young's side then travelled to take on Scottish Premiership outfit St Johnstone in the final round of group matches, and they came away with an impressive 4-0 victory, courtesy of first-half goals from Greig Spence and Lewis Milne and Paul McLean's second-half brace, wrapping up a second-placed finish in the group and sealing their progression to the knockout stage as one of the best runners-up.
Following that group campaign, the Binos then kicked off their Scottish League One campaign and have successfully put six points on the board from their opening two outings, having scored 1-0 victories over FC Edinburgh and Alloa Athletic thanks to goals from Cammy Clark and Carrick respectively.
They now head into Friday's test on the back of a 3-0 defeat to East Kilbride on Tuesday, as Johnathan Lyon, Marc Kelly and Andrew Stirling found the net to dump Young's men out of that competition, and before turning their attention back to league action, Stirling Albion will aim to pull off a major upset on home turf on Friday and book their place in the Scottish League Cup quarter-finals with a victory.
Their visitors are still easing into the campaign by comparison, with Aberdeen having only played in two Scottish Premiership outings so far this term with Europa League qualifying looming.
Following their third-placed finish in the top flight last season, which granted them a place in continental qualifying and a bye past the Scottish League Cup group stage, Barry Robson's men kicked off their new league term away at Livingston and had to settle for a share of the spoils as neither side managed to break the deadlock.
The Dons then hosted defending champions Celtic on Sunday, and after going behind early they would draw level in the 25th minute through Bojan Miovski in the 25th minute, only for Kyogo Furuhashi to quickly restore the visitors' lead before Matt O'Riley wrapped up a 3-1 away victory in the dying minutes.
On the back of that tough start, Aberdeen now turn their attention to the Scottish League Cup in their bid to improve on last season's campaign, in which they reached the semi-finals by topping their group and knocking out Annan Athletic and Partick Thistle, only to drop out in agonising fashion in a 2-1 semi-final defeat to Rangers after extra time.
Robson's men will seek to take the first step and advance to this year's quarter-finals with what would be their first competitive win of the season, before meeting either FK Zalgiris or Hacken in the first leg of their Europa League playoff-round tie next week.
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Team News
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Stirling Albion rotated heavily for their recent Scottish Challenge Cup tie with East Kilbride, and they should revert to a similar starting XI to the ones that were deployed in their latest league triumph over Alloa Athletic and the 4-0 beating of St Johnstone in their final League Cup group game.
Dale Carrick is bound to come back in and lead the line, having already found the net twice this term after notching up 25 goals in 40 appearances across all competitions for the Binos last term.
He will partner Robert Thomson up front, while Robert Davidson and Jack Leitch will line up in the engine room with Jordan McGregor and Paul McLean reforming their centre-back partnership.
Barry Robson will likely deploy a full-strength starting XI in Friday's cup tie with the aim of putting a first victory of the season on the board, with Bojan Miovski likely to lead the line having opened his account for the season in last week's defeat to Celtic, after scoring 18 goals in all competitions last time around.
He should partner Duk, who also found the net 18 times last term, while summer signing Ester Sokler is also vying to earn a starting berth.
He may complete a front three, with Graeme Shinnie and Leighton Clarkson set to partner up in the engine room, while Nicky Devlin, Slobodan Rubezic and Jack McKenzie should all keep their places in a back three.
Stirling Albion possible starting lineup:
Currie; Cummins, McLean, McGregor, Clark; Dunsmore, Leitch, Davidson, Milne; Carrick, Thomson
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Roos; Devlin, Rubezic, McKenzie; Morris, Clarkson, Shinnie, Duncan; Sokler, Miovski, Duk
We say: Stirling Albion 0-3 Aberdeen
Stirling Albion have been involved in more competitive action so far this term, while Aberdeen will not be overly pleased with their start to the campaign, but Robson's men will be keen to get up and running with a first victory and have more than enough quality to see off their third-tier hosts on Friday.
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Top tip
Sam Varley
