DUMBARTON captain Andy Dowie is hoping that his lucky mascot, his seven-year-old son Andrew, can help the Sons to a historic cup triumph tomorrow evening at McDiarmid Park.

Lifting the Irn-Bru Cup would mean the world to the 34-year-old veteran, but the day will be hugely special for him and his family in any case with Andrew by his side as he leads out his team to face Inverness.

And if he can prove to be the lucky charm that brings Dumbarton their first national silverware for over a century, then all the better.

“It would mean everything to me," Dowie said. "I’m in the latter stages of my career and it is unlikely this chance will come round again.

"It will be a special day for my family because my little boy Andrew is the mascot. He is looking forward to it. He has asked me about 100 questions, asking where he will be sitting, who will take me down to the pitch. He thinks he will be in the dressing room and taking part in the warm up.

"It’s great he is so excited and it has actually relaxed me a little bit. I have meant to get him be a mascot for a number of years and never got round to it, so this is the ideal game.

"He might forget about it because he is so young, but my wife and I certainly won’t. If we win, no doubt the wee man will be trying to help me lift the cup. "He has his own strip and tracksuit for the day and hopefully that is a nice surprise for him.”

Dowie says that Dumbarton's remarkable run to tomorrow's final, knocking out full-time teams and the champions of Wales away from home along the way, says everything about the quality of the Sons squad and the calibre of manager, Stevie Aitken.

“We have done it the hard way," he said. "The trip to Wales to play The New Saints was difficult because they were a very good team. We took a great support to that game and hopefully we can have the same at the final. We want to bring the trophy back to the town as a thanks to the fans.

“I think it speaks volumes for the club and the manager we have got this far. We are used to playing against full-time teams. You have seen how strong the Championship has been recently with the likes with Rangers, Hearts and Hibs and we have survived. We believe in ourselves as a squad.

"Getting this far shows how good we can be. I can count on one hand the number of times we have been turned over. In almost every game we have given the opponent a right good game.

"Livingston are the only team to take maximum points from us this year. We are in a difficult position in the league and we aren’t pleased about that, we have performed quite well.

“We know we are going into this as underdogs and the smaller club, but does that matter when the referee blows his whistle? No it doesn’t. We have beaten Inverness in the league before and they beat us so it will be a tight game. They will be disappointed with their league form but they are the favourites.”