THE first major silverware of the season is up for grabs this afternoon when Motherwell meet Celtic in the Betfred Cup final at Hampden Park.

Securing the trophy would be a coup for both sides. The Bhoys are looking to extend their record-breaking domestic unbeaten run and defend the first of three major honours they won last season, while the Steelmen are hoping end an agonising wait for their fans and lift their first trophy since 1991. 

Here, we look at the story so far for the two sides in the League Cup ahead of their showdown at the national stadium. 

Motherwell

Group stage

Queen's Park 1-5 Motherwell, Motherwell 4-0 Morton, Edinburgh City 1-2 Motherwell, Motherwell 1-0 Berwick Rangers

Stephen Robinson's side began the season in strong form, winning all four of their group games and scoring 12 goals in the process. 

Big wins over Queen's Park and Championship Morton in the opening two rounds were followed by narrower margins of victory over Edinburgh City and Berwick Rangers, but 'Well comfortably topped their group to progress into the second round. 

Second round

Ross County 2-3 Motherwell (AET)

Motherwell faced a tricky task in the first knockout round but came out on top after extra time in a Dingwall thriller.

Gael Bigirimana put the visitors in front after 50 minutes, but Alex Schalk's equaliser 15 minutes later took the tie beyond 90 minutes.

Chris Cadden scored early to regain the lead, but disaster looked to have struck when Charles Dunne was sent off for giving away a penalty that Craig Curran duly converted. But Ross MacLean rounded goalkeeper Scott Fox to win it with eight minutes left on the clock. 

Quarter-final

Motherwell 3-0 Aberdeen

An impressive win over last year's runners-up was recorded at Fir Park. Dons goalkeeper Joe Lewis tipped the opener into his own net before having another nightmare for the second as he failed to keep out Peter Hartley's header. 

Star striker Louis Moult then made sure of the win with five minutes to go, latching onto Liam Grimshaw's pass and arrowing a superb finish into the opposite corner. 

Semi-final

Rangers 0-2 Motherwell

Moult was the star man again as Robinson's side came out on top of a fiery clash with Rangers at Hampden. 

The striker converted from close range as the Gers failed to deal with a corner, before scoring a sublime second from distance on the half-volley to book 'Well a place in the final. 

CELTIC

Second round

Celtic 5-0 Kilmarnock 

The defending champions entered in the second round and swept aside the challenge of Premiership rivals Kilmarnock.

A double from Leigh Griffiths in addition to strikes from Anthony Ralston, a wonderful Kieran Tierney effort from distance and Stuart Armstrong ensured there would be no upset at Celtic Park despite Brendan Rodgers fielding five teenagers in his starting line-up.

Quarter-final

Dundee 0-4 Celtic

Another big win for the Bhoys booked them a semi-final date at Hampden after a convincing performance at Dens Park.

A Scott Sinclair penalty opened the scoring before James Forrest struck twice and Callum McGregor got on the scoresheet late on. 

Semi-final

Hibernian 2-4 Celtic

The defending champions put four past Hibs to reach the final, but had to hold off a spirited second half fightback from Neil Lennon's side. 

Mikael Lustig scored twice in the first half to give the Hoops a comfortable advantage before former Parkhead striker Anthony Stokes pulled one back from the penalty spot with half an hour remaining.

Moussa Dembele restored his side's two-goal advantage before youngster Oli Shaw hit back, but Dembele put the result beyond doubt late on with his side's fourth.