STEWART MAXWELL is keeping his playing cards close to his chest in refusing to say whether new striker signing Kevin Watt will get to sample Scottish Junior Cup 4th Round action against Arthurlie on Saturday.

The highly rated 25 year old , loaned out on a short term deal from Clyde , featured for the first time on Monday night when goals from Stevie Aitken , Chris Duff , Lee Davidson and Stephen McDonald helped the Rabs to a 4-0 friendly win over Glenafton .

He failed to make a scoring debut however Watt's positional play and work rate left Maxi and Rabs No 2 Paul Ronald suitably impressed along with newly installed Arthurlie manager Robert Downs who watched on and took the opportunity to run the rule over his side's Cup opponents after getting wind of the KilwinningAstro staged encounter taking place.

Maxi scoffed , "I never actually spoke to him myself but Downsy was heard to say he wished he hadn't bothered taking in the game .

"Now it might be the case that he never learned anything new about us or maybe we put the fear of God into him with our display and he realises this Rob Roy side are not coming to Dunterlie just to make up numbers

"What I am pretty sure about is he will have singled out Chris Duff as one of our biggest threats as he was close to unplayable and tormented the Glens defence however I also felt Watt had his share of exceptional moments with his ability to link up play sure to have caught Downsy's eye.

"Kevin has mainly been sitting on Clyde's substitutes bench over the past couple of months so his lack of match practice left him slightly off the pace if truth be told but putting g in a good 70 minutes workout will have done him the world of good and we'll look to sharpen him further at training tonight."

Maxi's own Junior career means he is no stranger to the tight Dunterlie pitch confines and the red hot atmosphere that normally surrounds Scottish Cup ties and he will be warning his players about what to expect at kick off time.

He insisted , "I know from experience that Arthurlie will throw everything barring the kitchen sink at us particularly in the early stages so it is imperative we are strong defensively and able to win our share of aerial battles.

"It's an intimidating arena that can affect youngsters in the squad like ex-Queens Park midfielder Lee Davidson however I'm pretty confident he will be kept right by the old head of Paul Finnigan playing behind him.

"Finny will relish the heat of battle as will our other full back Danny McKenzie who has been playing out of his skin this season however it's vital the likes of Scott Upton and Kenny Jarvis get the ball down and play passes.

"We do not want the big match atmosphere to lead to us getting caught up in a physical contest ."

Meanwhile , fears over the likelihood of the Cup tie going ahead at the fourth time of asking has led to Maxi preliminary arranging a friendly fixture against Beithfor Saturday afternoon (Barrfields 1PM).