by Stuart Gillespie

Ayr United may be a Second Division side but they are not a team to be taken lightly, as the Honest Men's performance in the last round proves. After holding Hibs to a draw at Easter Road, they pulled off a shock by beating them 1-0 in the replay. Over the past 20 years or so Ayr have always been capable of producing cup shocks, making the final of the League Cup in 2002 and also the Scottish Cup semi-finals on a couple of occasions. They've beaten several SPL sides in recent times and have often come out on top of cup battles with local rivals Kilmarnock.

Like many lower league clubs, Ayr had an enforced winter break due to the weather and played just once between beating junior side Sunnybank in the 3rd round of the Cup and their first meeting with Hibs. That was a win over Dumbarton in the league as they bid to make an immediate return to the First Division, having been relegated last season. Things on that side are going fairly well as they find themselves second in the table, just four points behind Livingston. Brian Reid has done a terrific job at Somerset and if he keeps going in this manner it won't be long until he is attracting attention from elsewhere.

The scorer of Ayr's famous goal against Hibs in the last round will be familiar to Saints fans. Mark Roberts had a short spell at Love Street in 2003, scoring a few goals, before going on to score hatfuls of goals with Airdrie United and Partick Thistle. He's done the same since he moved to Ayr at the start of last season and has an impressive 17 goals to his name so far. Someone else on Ayr's books who had a short spell with Saints is Eddie Malone, who made a few appearances during 2007 after joining from Clyde. Like Roberts, he has had a few clubs since leaving Paisley but now seems to have found his home at Somerset Park. Other familiar faces include midfielder Ryan McCann, who helped send Queen of the South to Hampden three years ago with a 90 yard effort, and former Airdrie man Stephen McKeown. Last week Ayr strengthened further with the signing of experienced centre half Jim Lauchlan, who has previously played for the likes of Dundee United and Kilmarnock.

Bizarrely, tomorrow will be exactly six years ago since these sides met at Somerset at this stage of the cup - with the eventual winners facing Hibs! In 2005 it was Saints who emerged on top thanks to goals from Stewart Kean, who had only moved from Ayr a few months earlier, and Hugh Murray. Murray is one of just two Saints players who survive from that day and the other, David van Zanten, has had spells elsewhere since then. The two sides did meet in last season's League Cup and it was goals from Michael Higdon and Billy Mehmet that gave Saints another 2-0 win at the seaside. Pre-season friendlies have been regular between the sides in recent years, with last summer's game at Somerset finishing 3-1 to Saints thanks to goals from Higdon, John Potter and Stephen Glass. The two sides were last in the same division in 2003/04 and it was at Somerset that Ayr recorded their most recent competitive win over Saints to date, coming out on the right side of a 2-0 scoreline in February 2004.

After Wednesday night's disappointing defeat to Hibs, Saints boss Danny Lennon may feel the need to ring the changes. While he has stuck with the same side for the last three games, it would not be a surprise if he reverted to a line-up similar to the one that put six past Peterhead in a replay in the last round. That would mean starts for Paul McQuade and Aaron Mooy, who bagged three goals between them that night. While Wednesday saw a defeat, it also saw an injury to Patrick Cregg meaning he could miss the trip to Somerset, although Hugh Murray is the ideal replacement if Lennon decides to go with a similar team. Still out injured are Garry Brady, David Barron, Nick Hegarty and former Ayr man Gareth Wardlaw.

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