The fifth round of the Scottish Cup is set to be completed on February 15th and 16th and the dates and matchups for the sixth round are already set. The sixth round (quarter-finals) will be played on March 10th and 11th. Here is a look at the remaining matches for the fifth round and a look ahead to the quarter-finals next month.
On Tuesday, February 14th it will be Ross County taking on St. Mirren, St. Johnstone against Heart of Midlothian and Queen of the South against Aberdeen. On Wednesday, February 15th it will be Ayr United against Falkirk. The first three matches are replays since the first time the teams played they fought to draws while the last match is a rescheduled one as Ayr and Falkirk had their originally scheduled match postponed due to an unplayable pitch.
Quarter-finals (March 10th and 11th):
Heart of Midlothian or St Johnstone vs. St. Mirren or Ross County
Ayr United or Falkirk vs. Hibernian
Dundee United vs. Celtic
Motherwell vs. Aberdeen or Queen of the South
Celtic area solid favorite to win the Scottish Cup again this year. They are the defending champions and without question the best team in Scotland. That opinion is also shared by Inverness head coach Terry Butcher whose team lost to Celtic in the fifth round. “Celtic, without doubt, are the best team in Scotland,” he said. “They’ve certainly got the best squad in Scotland. They are scoring goals and winning games. They are steamrolling everybody.”
While everyone is singing the praises of Celtic and some people are talking about a treble this season, manager Neil Lennon doesn’t want to hear about it. “Things can change very quickly but we’re really pleased with where we are at the minute.” Lennon said, “Inverness was the toughest tie we probably could have had, apart from being at Ibrox, so I’m thrilled to get through it. But there is a long way to go yet.”
The Celtic Scottish Cup is the main cup competition in Scotland and the one that gets the most headlines. It is a knockout format which means one loss and a team is eliminated. The tournament was first held in 1873-1874 which makes the Scottish Cup trophy historic as it is the oldest national trophy. Celtic is the defending champion as they beat Motherwell in last year’s final by a score of 3-0.
