Neilston boss Andy Whiteford has cranked up the heat on Scottish Junior Cup opponents Rutherglen Glencairn by declaring all the pressure is on them ahead of the West Region duo locking horns at Brig O’Lea tomorrow.

The one-time St Johnstone defender believes bookmakers are not too far of the mark in declaring the visiting Glens as odds-on favourites to secure a place in Tuesday’s third-round draw.

However, he is nevertheless backing his young side to give the higher league outfit a run for their money.

He said: “Both teams have experienced similar up and down results this season, but I have to concede that Glencairn’s league status has everybody expecting them to come good on the day.

“Our preparations this week have been good and my players know to expect a difficult test, but what is very encouraging is the fact there is no lack of spirit and fight for the challenge that awaits us.

“If anything the guys are high on confidence and fired up by the prospect of taking a scalp so nobody should be dismissing our chances of causing an upset.”

Whiteford played in the Neilston side that reached the 2007 last eight only to agonisingly lose 2-1 against Kilwinning Rangers and he would love to see the present day Farmers Boys embark on another memorable cup run.

He said: “Nobody expected that Neilston team to go far, but a couple of notable wins had the whole village getting behind us and the atmosphere created on match days was second to none and brought the best out of our players.

“The same could occur this time around because our dressing room contains a decent mix of experience and youth which can serve us well given a rub or two of the green.

“Mathew Stevenston in midfield is a terrific prospect and will only get better when he marries his undoubted ability with a desire to work even harder to get the ball back when not in possession.

"Craig O’Brien has been outstandingly consistent and has made a great job of filling the left-back shoes of Davie Gordon who opted to join Renfrew.

“And yet another youngster showing great promise is the former Barrhead Boys Club jstriker Tam McGauchey who has only come on board in the past few weeks but is pushing strongly for a regular jersey .

“I can pay him no bigger compliment than saying he is shaping up like our former forward Darren Christie, currently earning plaudits with Beith in the Super Premier Division.”

Whiteford's upbeat attitude is in spite of a triple injury blow that leaves him without three experienced players.

Defender Kieron McDaid is a definite non-starter with damaged knee ligaments that will most probably require surgery to put right while an ankle injury sustained by Barry Tulloch in training will sideline him for at least a couple of weeks .

And veteran player/coach James Lennox, who has donned the boots again to great effect in recent weeks, is ruled out through work commitments.

The Neilston gaffer added: “Lenny’s passion and desire has done us a turn but we don’t lack for players with big game nous as we have Martin McInness, one of the fittest guys in the game, propping up our backline while the striker pairing of Robbie Cameron and Danny Mackay have shown they have an eye for goal and will not be easily kept quiet.”

The Ru’glonians come into the Second Round tie suitably boosted by a 2-I Super First Division defeat of Maybole which ended a disappointing run of six games without victory albeit glens boss willie Harvey was quick to defend his players.

He revealed: "Three of those games ended all-square and on another day we could easily have picked up full points because truth is the players are performing well but are paying a heavy price for individual errors .

“And the only display that caused me to go ballistic behind dressing room doors was our defeat by Largs Thistle when I felt we didn’t do ourselves justice and let our supporters down.

“We’re showing signs of getting back to our best however talk of us as favourites through at Neilston is nonsense because form goes out the window in Scottish Cup ties and the Brig is never an easy place to get a result so my players are under no illusions about what awaits us through there.”

Injuries rule out the trio of Adam Shaw, John Boal and Brian Eadie while an arguably bigger blow is the absence of striker Dennis McLaughlin on account of a suspension imposed for him picking up a red card in a friendly match outing against Newmains United.

The loss of his top scorer has Harvey swithering over whether to opt for an "Italian Job” and selecting one time Pollok trialist Simone Sorrentino and his nephew Tadeo who have signed for the Glens after impressing in friendly outings.

Former goalkeeper Harvey said: “I have high hopes for both players and think they have a chance at Junior level particularly Tadeo who has stood out recently.

“Their unknown quantity could work in our favour, though I can also call on Paddy Cullen and Mark Tait for what I envisage will be a very tight and hard fought game which could easily go either way.”