Motherwell begin the Scottish Cup campaign with a trip to Arbroath. A Premiership performance will be needed to overcome the Championship side.
The Gayfield pitch has been under covers since the weekend and the hope is that a playable surface is revealed when they are lifted probably on Friday evening.
The hosts finished last season second in the Championship but their chance of promotion to the top flight ended with a play-off loss to Inverness. They have been unable to maintain that high standard this campaign and currently find themselves in second bottom place.
This will be a meeting of two teams with woeful league form. While Arbroath suffer with one win in eleven, Motherwell have struggled with one win in twelve attempts. Both will hope for some relief in the cup.
Dick Campbell has added five players in the current transfer window including striker Sean Adarkwa who scored against Ayr last weekend. They have experience in their team too, Scott Allan has played at the highest level and 37 year old Bobby Linn is their top scorer.
Motherwell fans had a first look at Olly Crankshaw and a brief sight of Mikael Mandron last weekend and we may see more of them and possibly the elusive Shane Blaney.
As the weeks pass without a win Stevie Hammell has been increasingly frustrated at the costly and careless errors that have turned wins into draws. He cannot afford anything but progression into Sunday evening's fifth round draw. It's time for the players to deliver and a 2-0 win will do nicely.