Arthurlie skipper Mark Blakey is urging his team-mates to come flying out of the blocks if they want to keep their Scottish Junior Cup dream alive.

The Barrhead side found themselves trailing to a third-minute Kevin Watt goal in last weekend's fourth-round clash away to Rob Roy before staging a comeback to firstly equalise before winning the tie on a penalty kick shoot-out.

And the narrow victory has Blakey warning his team-mates against thinking they can make a similar slow start in today's last-16 clash through East against Penicuik Athletic.

The classy defender said: "To say we were caught on our heels would be putting it mildly and we simply cannot afford to be quite so sloppy again.

"Penicuik appear to be formidable enough opponents without us giving them a goal of a start and it is imperative that we are up for the game and try to set the tempo from the first whistle.

"I am utterly convinced that if we can show a bit more urgency and hold our own in the early stages then a quarter-final place is not beyond us."

The in-form East Region cracks - only one defeat in their last ten outings - exited the cup in a fifth-round replay encounter with Irvine Meadow last season.

And they are strongly fancied to go one better this time out and secure an all-East last eight showdown with Musselburgh Athletic.

However, 25-year-old Blakey is happy for Arthurlie to be tagged as underdogs .

He added: " Penicuik dealt a knockout blow to Pollok prior to taking Medda to two games last season and by all accounts they are a big and physically intimidating side.

"However, we are no shrinking violets ourselves and have guys in our ranks like Kevin Green who will relish toughing it out .

"That said , we will be looking to avoid a battle of sheer strength not least because our best performances this season have come when we have got the ball down to play passes and we will try to impose ourselves in this fashion rather than with crunching tackles.

"The ball is very firmly in Penicuik's court and I imagine they will look to have a real go at us playing in front of their own supporters but we have pace in abundance throughout the team and can hurt them on the break ."

Team captain Blakey says the Dunterlie dressing room has been impressed with the approach of team boss Robert Downs and his dugout lieutenants Stevie Aitchison and Alan Waddell since assuming the reins in late January.

He said , "They came in at a difficult time when heads were down following the resignation of previous boss Craig McEwan but they very quickly earned the respect of every player with their ideas, methods and man management.

"They are very thorough and have tweaked things here and there in terms of organisation while Aitchy's training has been well received and has got us up to speed in terms of overall fitness.

"There's a real feelgood factor about the place and hopefully we can now show this with a few positive results - starting today. "

Arthurlie warmed up for today's contest with a 7-1 midweek friendly defeat of Renfrew thanks to goals from Danny Burns, Eddie McTernan, Paul Stewart (2), trialists (2), and comeback ace Kyle Rafferty making his first start since breaking a leg in an August game against Blantyre Vics.

The 20-year-old former Stranraer midfielder's impressive display has pushed him firmly into the selection thoughts of gaffer Downs, whose restricted playing hand against Rob Roy left him with only three named substitutes.

Rhys Devlin (suspension), Craig Palmer(cup tied) and striker Chris Dallas (groin strain) are all definite non-starters today, while the availability of Ryan McGregor (ankle) and Alan Muir (calf muscle) rests upon them coming through pre-match fitness tests .

Downsy admitted: "We're not exactly best placed in terms of numbers so it was very pleasing to see Kyle play so well and show no reaction whatsoever to his long injury absence .

" Tiny (Paul Stewart ) also caught the eye with an outstanding display as did several other players and I believe everyone's sharpness and match fitness levels will be better for the work out.

"All the reports on Penicuik indicate they can play a bit but so too can this group of Arthurlie players so this Cup tie is firmly in the balance."

Meanwhile, yet another Scottish Cup hopeful Shettleston will be idle today after their scheduled New Coin Holdings Cup contest against Maybole was postponed in the wake of the tragic death of Stuart McGrady.

The talented midfielder passed away in his sleep last Saturday night after captaining his team-mates to a 3-0 victory over Ardeer Thistle.

A number of Junior clubs are set to observe a minute's silence for the 31-year-old before today's games and many are holding collections to contribute to a memorial fund in his name.