IT could be argued that Ryan Frew's greatest Yoker Athletic moment remains the 2007 Scottish Junior Cup quarter-final defeat by Arthurlie.

No real surprise then to discover the 30-year-old midfielder - scorer of the only goal of the game in his side's fifth-round triumph over Lesmahagow - is hoping to change all that on Saturday when he and his Whe Ho team-mates take to the field for a last-eight tie against Linlithgow Rose in this season's showpiece tournament.

He acknowledges there are similarities bridging the eight-year gap seeing as bookies are dismissing John McAulay's men as no-hopers while most pundits reckon victory for the Super First Division outfit over the East Region kingpins would rank as one of the Cup's biggest upsets for many a day.

But having seriously flirted with a major shock all those years ago - Yoker collapsed from a 2-0 winning position at half-time to lose 4-2 against their Barrhead opponents - Frew is determined to avoid another crushing disappointment this time out.

Addressing a commonly held belief that Junior football's big-hitters tend to come good in the Holy Grail's latter stages, he said: "Losing to Arthurlie in the manner which we did was a sore one to accept at the time but the experience taught me the valuable lesson that anything can happen in the cup.

"Linlithgow are massive favourites to come out on top as you might expect but there's a semi-final place at stake and nobody in our dressing room is prepared to just step to one side and let them claim it without a fight .

"All the pressure is on them yet the truth is we have decent players scattered throughout this Yoker team and feel more than capable of giving Linlithgow a game of it.

"Whether that's good enough to win the day remains to be seen but everyone is looking forward to the occasion."

The competitive Frew owned up to being not best pleased after Yoker conceded two late goals in succumbing to a 2-1 Super First Division reverse at the hands of Rutherglen Glencairn last weekend.

He added: "It's a poor show looking at it as our cup warm-up game but there's a confidence among the players that we will raise ourselves for this week.

"A major boost is having Gary Arbuckle back to lead our forward line as he was posted missing through work commitments and another plus was Tiny (Greg Maitland) showing signs of getting back to the form that had clubs showing a signing interest earlier this season.

"His skill in running at opponents with the ball seemingly tied to his laces mark Tiny out as a potential match-winner and if he's in the mood then Linlithgow's defenders will have their work cut out to stop him."

Yoker team boss McAulay ran the rule over the East Region cracks in their 2-2 fifth-round stalemate with Camelon and knows the game plan he wants to play.

"Linlithgow like to get the ball down and make passes so we will need to be prepared to get in their faces and upset their rhythm as much as possible "he insisted.

"They played a 4-5-1 shape and there was a lot of fluidity and movement among their forward going players so it is vital that we put up the shutters like we did in the last round win over Lesmahagow and stay tight at the back.

"Linlithgow are well backed and will doubtless bring a large travelling support through with them on the day however I'm hoping the local Holm Park fans turn out in numbers and we'll be doing our best to give them something to cheer.

"A difficult 90 minutes is in store but I truly believe if everyone is on their game then we have a genuine chance of getting through ."

McAulay has a starting line-up in mind but is delaying his selection until just before kick-off due to a concern over experienced centre-back Steff Reilly who was forced to come off in the Glencairn game with a calf muscle problem.

The gaffer said: "Steff landed awkwardly jumping for a ball in the lead up to Glencairn's equalising goal and if he hadn't been out of position then chances are we might have finished the game with a clean sheet.

"He's been a massive influence for us this season and though a worry right now, he has been nursing this same calf problem for the past couple of months and hasn't missed a single game yet.

"He normally gets through playing on Saturday and then has to take things easy at training nights in order to be passed fit the following week so I'm fairly confident he will pass muster."

Rose manager Danny Smith, a former Scotland Juniors midfielder who also played with Dunipace in the West Region, dismissed any talk of complacency among his playing charges.

He said: "Linlithgow are work in process and are a long way from the finished article so talk of us being as good as in the semis is a tad premature.

"The Scottish Junior Cup is riddled with shock results and we must play to our best to avoid becoming another one of them."