Beith boss Johnny Millar adheres to the oft used maxim that “actions speak louder than words”.

And that explains to an extent why he is taciturn in conversation about this weekend’s William Hill Scottish Cup clash away to Lowland League outfit B.S.C. Glasgow.

Indeed, if his defensive bulwarks John Sheridan, Mark McLaughlin and Kevin McDonald give as little away out on Recreation Park’s Astro-grass pitch, then the likelihood exists of the Ayrshiremen standing alone as Junior football’s standard bearer when the third round pairings are being made.

One would like to think otherwise but there’s no escaping the fact Bonnyrigg Rose and Banks O’Dee have landed extremely tough hurdles to overcome in the shape of leading Highland League clubs Cove Rangers and Formartine respectively while the visit to Prestonfield of Scottish League Two outfit Stirling Albion is tipped to end manager-less Linlithgow Rose’s dreams of emulating last season’s glory Cup run.

The prospect of next Monday’s football columns having to explain’ how the Mighty have fallen’ may appear remote at best to most footballing pundits.

However, Millar refuses to buy into the swell of opinion even though he has been left salivating over Beith’s recent performances.

Only last Saturday, he afforded himself the luxury of making fully six personnel changes en route to his side easing to a 4-1 New Coin Holdings West of Scotland Cup victory over Ardeer Thistle through goals from hitherto squad players Thomas Collins (2) , Ross McPherson and Josh McArthur.

He said: “Being able to make changes and rest players is indicative of the strength of our playing squad and I remember at one stage looking at our bench on Saturday and thinking I’m one lucky manager.

“The West tie was important insofar as I wanted to give a break to the likes of Paul Frize who has played every minute of every Beith game this season.

"And not for a minute did I doubt that the guys coming in as replacements would do the job.

“Admittedly one or two supporters were getting a bit anxious when the scoreline read 1-1 at half-time.

"But I took comfort from knowing we had bombarded them for 45 minutes only to miss a barrowload of chances and then criminally concede a goal in their only venture up the pitch.

“It was always going to be a matter of time before we turned our dominance into goals and thankfully the players did exactly that in the second half.

“It's pleasing to serve up another decent performance to keep our terrific winning run going.

"However, going up against B.S.C. presents a whole new set of challenges that will only be met if our mindset is right on the day.

“The game of football has ways of slapping you down just when you feel things are going great and we must not fall into the trap of listening to people who think the tie is a formality - it’s anything but.”

Miller revealed how he came away suitably impressed with B.S.C. after taking in their 2-0 midweek win against Vale of Leithen earlier this month.

He added: “They are very attack minded playing at home and have a number of forward going players who could certainly hack it at Junior level as well as a handful of younger types who have been loaned out by Celtic.

“Aiden Ferris is very quick off the mark as is the lad Mathew Becket and they have a big target man Robert Jones whose physicality could pose a few problems.

“They also have Jamie Cunningham, a right-sided midfielder whom we tried to sign last season when he was turning out for St Peters Juveniles and he is no shrinking violet when it comes to putting himself about and Mick Toner is of the same ilk so it’s looking like our players will know they’ve been in a game.

“That said, if our guys play at their best then we have it in us to do well and the key is for every Beith player to be coming off the pitch on Saturday feeling having given their all.”

Beith’s involvement in the “Big Scottish has brought about the postponement of their Scottish Junior Cup tie with Vale of Clyde which could be looked upon as something of a lucky omen for the Tin Pail seeing as their meeting at the same second round stage last season resulted in the Mighty running out 10-2 winners before going on to lift the coveted Holy Grail silverware for the first time in their 78-year history.

Vale gaffer Ian Currie who has recently recruited ex-Airdrie midfielder Reece Glackin and former Hearts striker Salim Kouider Aissa is adamant his playing charges will make a better fist of things this time around.

He said: "For starters, the game is at Fullarton Park this time and we hope to play them with eleven players and avoid having two red cards against us.

“Johnny has put together a very strong side so I wouldn’t dare predict a cup shock but I am confident we are better equipped to make a game of it this time around.”