Hurlford United boss Darren Henderson believes the team with the strongest characters will win out in today’s ETHX energy Scottish Junior Cup showdown with Pollok.

The Newlandsfield-staged semi-final second leg, which is poised at 0-0 following the first leg, is certain to attract the biggest Junior crowd of the day.

However, the pressure is not getting to seasoned campaigner Hendo, who is determined to enjoy the nerve-shredding contest.

“I’m probably feeling happier about my players and our preparations than I was going into last weekend’s first meeting of the clubs," said the former midfielder.

“Exactly why I’m of that mind isn’t easy to explain, but I’m certainly thinking we have a much better performance in us than we showed at Blair Park where I felt large tracts of the game were surreal.

“A lot of breaks of the ball went against our guys and I cannot believe we’ll again be denied our fair share or for that matter will we be quite so tame and lacking creativity as we were throughout the entire second half.

“All credit to Tony McInally and his players for grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck.

"However, I’ll be surprised if not annoyed should we allow ourselves to be put in the shade so easily.

“It takes massive characters to demand the ball in situations like a semi-final and show themselves not afraid to make mistakes and here at Hurlford we have guys of this ilk with a point or two to prove.

“There’s no doubt the 90 minutes is going to be very tight but I detect my guys are in the mood and looking forward to it now that we are down to the nitty-gritty.

”Newlandsfield is a venue where we haven’t fared particularly well in recent times however the pressure is on Pollok as the home side to come out and have a go which may be to our liking.

"Tony and his players did a good job of frustrating our attacking efforts last week and I’m pleased that our backline is looking strong as we will need them to be solid and provide a foundation for how we want to set ourselves up.

“We will need to be alert to the threat of Davie Winters, a fabulous striker who was quiet by his own high standards in the first game and is therefore likely to pose a major threat tomorrow.”

Darren then drew on his experiences from leading Hurlford into their third consecutive Scottish Cup semi-final to add: "A lot of people will be fancying Pollok to turn us over now that they are taking us back to their place .

“But we are not too dismayed at a 0-0 scoreline seeing as it is a big improvement on how we have fared going into the second leg of our previous double-headers, which saw us 2-1 down to Irvine Meadow in 2014 and with a 3-1 deficit to overcome against Auchinleck Talbot last season.”

Meanwhile, beaten ETHXenergy Cup semi-finalists Kilwinning Rangers have received the ideal fillip to their demise against near neighbours Beith as a result of a major boost to their Super First Division title aspirations.

Rival challengers Largs Thistle, Clydebank and Cumnock all suffered shock defeats last weekend at the same time as the Buffs men were failing to overcome the Mighty’s 3-0 first leg advantage .

And in midweek Chris Strain’s men took another significant stride in front of their own Abbey Park fans when they recovered from 0-2 down to beat table-topping Largs 5-2 through goals from Liam McGuinness, o.g.Bryan Boylan, Ross Stewart and Ben Lewis.

Team boss Strain said: "I didn’t want the boys to be feeling sorry for themselves after losing to Beith, but it was certainly a lot easier to lift them after hearing Saturday’s league results coming through.

“To then be tasked with going up against Largs just four days later couldn’t have come at a better time for us and I didn’t have to say a word to get everyone motivated even though Largs did their best to put a spanner in the works by racing into a 2-0 lead after just eight minutes play.

“The win pushes us up into second place two points clear of Clydebank and with Largs in our sights so the key now is to focus on one game at a time and nothing more starting with the visit of Bellshill Athletic today.

“They’ve won three of their last four outings and will be dangerous opponents unless our minds are on the job in hand though my main concern is whether I can get away with making a few personnel changes in order to keep players fresh.

“The simple truth is our Cup runs have ensured we are going to have a hectic time of it approaching the end of season and we cannot keep asking the same players to be at their best for every game.”