A place in the semi-finals of the Scottish Challenge Cup will be up for grabs on Tuesday when Dunfermline Athletic and Alloa Athletic go head to head at East End Park.
This will be the first between the two teams since July 2023, when the Pars held on to secure a 1-0 victory in a pre-season friendly courtesy of an eight-minute strike from Christopher Hamilton.
Match preview
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Dunfermline Athletic continue to struggle for results at the bottom end of the Championship table as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Queens Park at Hampden Park on Saturday.
After falling behind to Ryan Duncan's 31st-minute strike, Mathew Todd struck in the 61st minute to pull the visitors back into the contest, but substitute Jack Turner netted in the 72nd minute to hand Queens Park all three points.
Dunfermline Athletic have now failed to win seven of their last eight Championship matches — losing five and picking up two draws — with a 3-0 home win over Livingston on October 29 being the exception.
While James McPake's men sit ninth in the league table and are one of the early favourites to go down, they turn their focus to the Challenge Cup, where they have seen off East Fife and Kelty Hearts to reach the quarter-finals.
Goals from Aaron Comrie and Lewis McCann saw Dunfermline kick off their cup journey on a strong note as they beat East Fife 2-0 in the third round on September 7, five weeks before edging out League One outfit Kelty Heart 2-1 on home turf.
The Pars will be backing themselves to bounce back from the weekend defeat against Queens Park and go one step further in the cup as they take on an opposing side who have lost each of their last five clashes, conceding nine goals and failing to find target since a penalty-shootout victory in their Scottish League Cup clash back in July 2022.
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Alloa Athletic, on the other hand, were denied consecutive League One victories for the first time this season as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Queen of The South at Palmerston Park on Saturday.
With nothing to separate the sides in the first 45 minutes, Luke Rankin broke the deadlock eight minutes after the break to put the visitors in front, but substitute Josh Walker netted one minute after coming on to restore parity in the 59th minute.
Prior to that, Alloa Athletic snapped their run of two back-to-back home defeats in the league on November 2, when they thrashed Annan Athletic 5-0 at the Indodrill Stadium thanks to goals from Rankin, Cameron O'Donnell, Conor Sammon and a brace from Luke Donnelly.
Andy Graham's men, who have picked up five wins and six draws from their 13 League One games to sit one point clear at the top of the table, will look to keep the ball rolling in the Challenge Cup, where they scraped through the fourth round courtesy of a 1-0 win over Arbroath on October 11.
This followed a spirited display in the third round on September 7, when a brace from Kevin Cawley and Scott Taggart's late penalty helped Alloa fight back from behind to secure a 3-1 victory over Partick Thistle at the Firhill Stadium.
The Wasps head into Tuesday's cup clash unbeaten in each of their last seven games on the road across all competitions, picking up three wins and four draws since the start of August, and will look grab their first win over Dunfermline in well over two years.
Team News
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Todd staked his claim for a starting role with an impressive cameo at the weekend and the 23-year-old, who has started four of the 13 league games this term, could be named in the Dunfermline XI this weekend.
Should that be the case, we expect him to operate centrally in midfield, teaming up with Ewan Otoo and Craig Clay, while Lewis McCann and Kane Ritchie-Hosler and 23-year-old Adedapo Awokoya-Mebude should lead the attack.
At the opposite end of the pitch, Kieran Ngwenya, Kyle Benedictus, Tom Fogarty and Comrie should form the Pars' four-man defence, shielding 21-year-old Toby Oluwayemi between the sticks.
With his opener against Queen of The South at the weekend, Rankin now has three goals in his last four games and we expect the 19-year-old to lead Alloa's attack once again.
He should be joined in the final third by Steven Buchanan, O'Donnell and 28-year-old Donnelly, who has five contributions in the last eight matches, while Miko Virtanen and Stefan Scougall should form the midfield pivot.
Dunfermline Athletic possible starting lineup:
Morrison; Waters, McKay, Neill, Taggart; Virtanen, Scougall; O'Donnell, Buchanan, Donnelly; Rankin
Alloa Athletic possible starting lineup:
Oluwayemi; Ngwenya, Benedictus, Fogarty, Comrie; Otoo, Todd, Clay; McCann, Ritchie-Hosler, Awokoya-Mebude
We say: Dunfermline Athletic 2-0 Alloa Athletic
Alloa Athletic have lost their last five games against Dunfermline and will need to be at their best on Tuesday as they look to keep their cup dreams alive. However, home advantage gives McPake's side an extra edge here and we are backing them to extend their dominance over Alloa.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
