Mark McGhee has fast-tracked Motherwell youngster Dylan Mackin into the squad to face Aberdeen tonight after his heroics against the Pittodrie side's Under-20s during the week.

Stephen Craigan's young side blew away their opponents in a stunning 9-1 victory in the development league, with Mackin claiming two of the goals during that demolition.

The promotion of youth at Fir Park is nothing new, of course. Already the likes of Chris Cadden, Jack McMillan, Jake Hastie and David Ferguson are beginning to feature most weeks in some shape or form under McGhee, but he has told how he felt compelled to reward the performance of striker Mackin after Tuesday's result.

"He scored a couple the other night and he will be on the bench," said the Motherwell manager of the 19-year-old who also bagged a couple of assists. "It's important that the young players see a pathway.

"But these young guys have to be on the bench because you are confident you can put them on. You have to feel you can use them. Of course there are days when the nature of the game and the position of the player means it can be too difficult to put them on. But when it is a striker there will be less risk.

"The most important thing is the dynamic between youth academy and first team - how many are getting in the first team squad.

"That's far more important than winning Under-20 games. But that's what they work towards each week with Crags but the ultimate goal is that if they play well enough they end up in my squad.

"It's about how many come up to the first team and it's important they see a pathway. That is being reinforced all the time. If I didn't reward Dylan by promoting him then maybe they would wonder if I was just paying lip service to the young players. So we have to keep rewarding them for their progress. If they see Dylan on the bench, it's an incentive for them and they see a pathway there."

While it has been confirmed Mackin will make it on to the Motherwell team sheet as a substitute as he steps closer to making his league debut, the game being on is far from a certainty.

Storm Barbara is predicted to crash into Scotland with all the subtlety of a drunken first-footer tomorrow night, with club bosses and officials at Fir Park keeping a close eye on developments ahead of Aberdeen fans setting off on the long trip down the road.

"Alan Burrows [Motherwell chief operating officer] has told me there is a storm predicted for tomorrow," said McGhee. "How real the threat is I do not know.

"I think there is a cut-off point for wind levels. There is a protocol in terms of monitoring it and we will be looking at it on an hourly basis and looking ahead to see what they say before we put any Aberdeen fans at any risk, bringing them down for no reason. We will do our best to make sure we have all the information."