KEITH HOGG will be up against some familiar faces when his Kilsyth Rangers side welcome Arthurlie to Duncansfield for a New Coin Holdings West of Scotland Cup tie today.

The team boss has fond memories of an-all-too-brief playing stint with the Barrhead club back in 2011 when he recalls playing alongside the likes of Paul Stewart and Mark Blakey before electing to move back East to join Bathgate Thistle.

And both of his old team-mates will be doing their utmost to clinch a quarter-final place at the expense of Kilsyth, as indeed will Lie gaffer Robert Downs, who was on the books of Hamilton Accies with Hoggy and again teamed up with him later in their careers for Junior Scotland.

But the fiercely-competitive Gers gaffer is not planning on the third-round clash being a case of "Friends Reunited", as he is determined to spring a surprise on the Super Premier Division outfit.

He recalled: "I will be forever grateful to Arthurlie - and to the manager at the time, Sandy MacLean - for getting my playing career back on track at a time when I was swithering over whether to hang the boots up after almost a year out of the game through injury.

"The passion of the supporters and the hard work of the people behind the scenes combined to fill me full of enthusiasm again, even though the team didn't exactly set the heather on fire with our performances out on the pitch.

"Why that is I will never understand because we had no shortage of top Juniors at the club in David Merriman, Michael Keenan, Tiny (Paul Stewart) and Gary Livingstone, as well as plenty of quality sprinkled throughout our squad.

"Maybe it was a case of just needing time to gel, but I didn't hang around to find out because the chore of travelling through there was adversely affecting my work and family commitments to the extent that I jumped at the opportunity to get back East and sign for Bathgate prior to moving to Kilsyth as player coach under Eric Sinclair.

"I would say there are no regrets on my part but for believing Arthurlie are truly one of the sleeping giants of the Junior game."

Hoggy is relishing the prospect of locking dugout horns with Downs, adding: "Ally Dawson was the manager at Accies and he appointed Robert Prytz as his assistant, who arrived with Downsy and the Shettleston frontman Alex Eadie in tow.

"Injuries curtailed our appearances and we only played together about a dozen times in all, but his abilities left me in no doubt he was destined to make a name for himself upon his reinstatement to the Juniors.

"Hopefully we can dim his lights in a managerial sense by knocking his Arthurlie team out today and, although a big ask, I'm hoping my players can relax and enjoy the occasion knowing the pressure of expectation is all with Arthurlie.

"I'm immensely proud of what our players have achieved this season in terms of league points, so a cup run would be the icing on the cake."

Going into their fourth game in eight days has Kilsyth perilously close to running out of steam, with Hoggy owning up to three non-starters through injury in Liam McVey, David Waters and Nicky Prentice on top of cup-tied status ruling out Barry McGowan and Marco Andreoni.

Arthurlie have only one injury woe - full-back Craig Palmer - and he is cup-tied anyway, however Downs is hedging bets over his starting 11 because of the continuing threat of relegation hanging over his side.

He pointed out: "We want to have a real go at winning the West trophy, but are in a bit of a pickle because neither are we arithmetically safe from the drop until we pick up another three points.

"So, the dilemma is whether to go with a full-strength team against Kilsyth or grab the opportunity to rest up a few of the guys ahead of our final two league matches against Hurlford on Monday and Glenafton a week today."

Free-scoring hitman Gary Smith could be one of those players allowed to charge up his batteries, particularly as Downs can call on striker Chris Dallas, recently returned to the fold following a lengthy injury absence.

In other West ties, Shettleston host Super First adversaries Pollok, who lost out 3-2 on their previous visit to Greenfield Park this season, while the only top-flight showdown has Irvine Meadow readying to unveil the twin strike-force of Paul Maxwell and Michael Hughes against Shotts.

Holders Auchinleck are strongly fancied to progress at home to newly-crowned Ayrshire District champions Winton Rovers, however there is potential for a giant-killing act at Bellsdale Park where Beith await the visit of Kilwinning Rangers and, more so in the Guy's Meadow head-to-head between Cumbernauld and Petershill.