Aberdeen will travel to West of Scotland Premier Division leaders Darvel to kick off their Scottish Cup campaign in the fourth round.
Jim Goodwin’s side, who are third in the Premiership during this World Cup break, will tackle the Ayrshire club, who shocked League One Montrose with a 5-2 weekend win in Angus.
The draw was made live on BBC Scotland following live coverage of Championship leaders Ayr United’s 1-0 win against gutsy Pollok from the West of Scotland Premier Division.
John Gall, chairman of Darvel, said on TV he was “absolutely delighted” with the draw and pointed out they are the competition’s top scorers this season with 23 goals.
In 2021/22, Aberdeen’s Scottish Cup progress was ended in the fifth-round when they fell to a 2-1 defeat at Motherwell.
The Dons are keen to end a long wait to get their hands on this silverware, having last won it in 1990 with their epic penalty shoot-out triumph against Celtic.
Aberdeen also have a Viaplay Cup (formerly Betfred Cup) semi-final to look forward to against Rangers at Hampden on Sunday, January 15, with Celtic or Kilmarnock facing the winners.
Michael Beale, the new Gers boss, will be going all out to take his Ibrox team into a national final, having been appointed as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s successor on Monday.
Accies away clash for Ross County
Ross County, who lifted the Scottish League Cup in 2016, begin their Scottish Cup campaign with a trip to struggling Championship hosts Hamilton, managed by their former midfielder John Rankin.
Malky Mackay’s Staggies, who pushed up to 10th spot in the league before the break, will be confident they can progress against the basement side in the Championship.
This stage was as far as County contested last term, with a 1-0 loss at Livingston preventing a run deep in the competition.
Home ties for Caley Jags and Cove
Championship promotion hopefuls Caley Thistle, Scottish Cup winners under John Hughes in 2015, will host Owen Coyle’s Queen’s Park, also of the Championship, in round four.
Inverness, who defeated League Two visitors Stirling Albion 3-2 at the weekend, have taken just one point from two games against the Spiders this year.
Fellow Championship club, Cove Rangers, were rewarded for their 7-0 rout against East of Scotland League First Division opponents Dunipace by landing a home clash with their division’s pace-setters Ayr.
🏆 We will face @AyrUnitedFC at home in the Fourth Round of the @ScottishCup!
📅 This tie is due to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 21 January 2023. #CRFC pic.twitter.com/qGWxyb3bUP
— Cove Rangers FC (@CoveRangersFC) November 28, 2022
Jim McIntyre’s men, who are eighth in the second-tier in their debut season in the Championship, shared four goals with Ayr last month at Somerset Park .
Shock troop team to travel to Elgin
League Two side Elgin City, who edged past East of Scotland League Premier Division hosts Hill of Beath Hawthorn 2-1 on Saturday, will host shock troops Drumchapel United of the West of Scotland League First Division. They beat League One Edinburgh 1-0 to get through.
Edinburgh derby first out in draw
The full draw is: Hibernian v Hearts, Kilmarnock v Dumbarton, Dundee United v University of Stirling, St Mirren v Dundee, Celtic v Morton, St Johnstone v Rangers, Elgin City v Drumchapel United, Partick Thistle v Dunfermline Athletic, Arbroath v Motherwell, Linlithgow Rose v Raith Rovers, Alloa Athletic v Falkirk, Darvel v Aberdeen, Stenhousemuir v Livingston, Hamilton Accies v Ross County, Inverness CT v Queen’s Park, Cove Rangers v Ayr United.
Ties will be played on the weekend of Saturday, January 21-22.
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