Aberdeen travel to Glasgow for a tricky tie against Partick Thistle as the Scottish Cup gets underway in earnest.

The Dons have won both clashes between the sides in the Scottish Premiership, triumphing 3-0 at Firhill in September and running out 4-0 winners at Pittodrie last month. However, neither side goes into the game in the best league form. Aberdeen have lost their last two matches 3-1 to Hearts and Celtic, while Thistle finished with nine men in a 4-1 loss to Dundee United.

Conrad Balatoni picked up two yellow cards, meaning his suspension is competition specific and so is available. However, Stuart Bannigan was shown a straight red card meaning he misses out. Aaron Muirhead misses out due to a suspension carried over from last season's Scottish Cup, while Gary Fraser is serving a long-term ban.

Alan Archibald also has Sean Welsh, Stephen O'Donnell and Jordan McMillan as injury doubts.

Aberdeen, meanwhile, have midfielders Barry Robson and Chris Clark back in contention following suspension and injury respectively. However, Jonny Hayes is a doubt, while Willo Flood and Clark Robertson will remain on the sidelines for several weeks.

Alan Archibald said: "I don't think anybody is expecting anything from us this weekend. I think they probably expect Aberdeen to turn us over and they will be talking about Aberdeen going on another cup run.

"That's fine by us, but we've got to use that to our advantage. It's a welcome break away from the league to be honest. We look forward to the cup. We have tried to lift the spirits all week.

"We know the cup is something different, there is no pressure going into this game. It's a one-off game and we can have a go and try something different against Aberdeen."

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes was cautious about his team's chances: "Being drawn against Premier League opposition is always harder, especially away from home but we've had a couple of good victories against Partick in the league. In both games we've had to play well so something similar would be nice but nobody is going to gift it to us, we'll need to work hard.

"If we can play to a level we're capable of we can win the game. That's a great thing to have, to have that confidence and belief in your team. I look forward to watching my team, I am looking forward to the game. I am sure the players are exactly the same."