Preview: Greenock Morton vs. Motherwell - prediction, team news, lineups

The hosts are one of seven sides outside of the top flight remaining in this year's competition and beat Montrose to reach this stage, while their visitors saw off Alloa Athletic.

Match preview

Greenock Morton head into Friday's tie aiming to advance to the Scottish Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2018, after dropping out in the fourth round following a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Celtic last year.

Dougie Imrie's side would begin in the third round of this year's competition with a home contest against fifth-tier Bo'ness United in late November, and they progressed in dominant fashion with a 4-0 victory at Cappielow Park, as George Oakley, Jack Bearne, Robbie Muirhead and Logan O'Boy got on the scoresheet.

That set up a tougher fourth-round tie at home to third-tier Montrose, last month, and the Ton punched their ticket to the final 16 with another victory and clean sheet, coming out as 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Grant Gillespie and Oakley.

Imrie's men now turn their focus to the fifth round in the midst of an eye-catching run of form, having built on that latest cup triumph with a pair of dominant Scottish Championship wins to take a league unbeaten streak to 10 games and move up to fourth spot, firstly beating Arbroath 3-0 at Cappielow Park with Muirhead, Oakley and Gillespie on the scoresheet in the final 30 minutes.

Now on the back of a 5-0 thrashing of Dunfermline Athletic on their travels last Saturday, with Darragh O'Connor and Jack Baird netting braces alongside a Michael Garrity own goal, Greenock Morton will now bid to build on their growing momentum and hand out an upset on Friday with the chance to book their quarter-final place.

Their visitors, meanwhile, will set out to return to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup on Friday, having dropped out at this stage last season after back-to-back appearances in the final eight in the previous two campaigns.

The Well's latest bid began in the fourth round at home to Alloa Athletic in January, and they went ahead inside two minutes through Blair Spittal, only to be pegged back by a Connor Sammon leveller.

Georgie Gent restored their lead on the hour mark, though, and Spitall netted his second of the game in the dying embers to seal his side's place in the Scottish Cup final 16 for the fifth straight season.

Stuart Kettlewell's side followed that triumph up with back-to-back 1-1 draws with St Johnstone and Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership and they now also head into Friday's game on the back of a 5-0 league triumph to stretch an unbeaten streak, thrashing Ross County at Fir Park on Tuesday thanks to another Spittal brace alongside goals from Andy Halliday, Theo Bair and Jack Vale.

Having now climbed up to eighth spot in the Premiership and gone six games without a defeat in all competitions, Motherwell will now turn their focus back to Scottish Cup action and bid to progress in a tricky tie away at second-tier opposition on Friday.

Greenock Morton Scottish Cup form:

W

Greenock Morton form (all competitions):

W

W

D

W

W

W

Motherwell Scottish Cup form:

W

Motherwell form (all competitions):

W

D

W

D

D

W

Team News

Greenock Morton will likely field an unchanged starting XI from their 5-0 thrashing of Dunfermline Athletic on Friday, with George Oakley bound to again lead the line having netted 10 goals so far this season including one in each of their first two Scottish Cup ties.

He will have support from the likes of Robbie Crawford and Robbie Muirhead, who leads their scoring charts with 14 goals across all competitions this term, while Jack Bearne will fight to return to the attacking unit.

Alongside Crawford, Cameron Blues is a mainstay in midfield, while Darragh O'Connor and Jack Baird, both of whom netted braces last weekend, will continue to partner up at the heart of the defence.

Stuart Kettlewell fielded a full-strength Motherwell starting XI for their meeting with Alloa Athletic, and as such we should again see a similar lineup to their midweek thrashing of Ross County, albeit with several rotations anticipated given the busy schedule.

Blair Spitall and Theo Bair should again feature in the front line, having been on the scoresheet in midweek to take their tallies to nine and eight goals for the season respectively, while Jack Vale should also earn a first start in attack, having scored off the bench on debut against Ross County after arriving on loan from Blackburn Rovers at the end of the January transfer window.

New Sheffield United loanee Jili Buyabu may also earn a first start on the left-hand side, affording a rest for Georgie Gent, while 17-year-old Lennon Miller could come into the midfield from the outset alongside Davor Zdravkovski after replacing Andy Halliday early in the second half on Tuesday.

Greenock Morton possible starting lineup:

Mullen; French, Baird, O'Connor, Strapp; Wilson, Blues, Crawford, Power, Muirhead; Oakley

Motherwell possible starting lineup:

Kelly; Mugabi, Butcher, McGinn, O'Donnell, Zdravkovski, Miller, Buyabu; Vale, Bair, Spitall

We say: Greenock Morton 1-2 Motherwell

We expect an exciting encounter on Friday between two sides full of confidence and momentum after big league victories last time out.

Previews by email