This has the makings of a tricky one for Aberdeen, who have started their season with back-to-back Premiership defeats to Hearts and Celtic.

Jimmy Thelin's Scottish Cup winners are yet to score a goal, and Dougie Imrie's Morton have a history of making life difficult for Premiership sides at Cappielow.

However, the Championship club's only defeat in six games this term was against top-flight Motherwell, who beat Imrie's men 3-0.

That was at Fir Park, though. At Cappielow, Morton pose a sterner test.

Imrie was absent from his team's first league match following the premature birth of his baby daughter Remi. She was born 14 weeks early.

What the manager is going through at present is far more important than any game of football.

Morton boss Dougie Imrie makes a couple of changes from the draw with Partick Thistle last time out.

Iain Wilson and Kian Taylor drop the bench, with Michael O'Halloran and Owen Moffat coming into the XI.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin makes three changes from the 2-0 defeat to Celtic. Defender Gavin Molloy and midfielder Ante Palaversa make their first appearances of the season, and it's a first start of the campaign for Scottish Cup final hero Shayden Morris.

Molloy is likely to play in an unfamiliar left-back position in the absence of the injured Emmanuel Gyamfi, with the summer signing yet to make his debut.

Nicky Devlin, Topi Keskinen and captain Graeme Shinnie all drop to the bench.

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St Johnstone make one change to the side that beat Ross County in the Championship last time out.

Defender Morgan Boyes replaces winger Josh McPake, which suggests a formation switch from manager Simo Valakari.

Motherwell boss Jens Berthal Askou makes two tweaks to his line-up after last weekend's goalless draw against St Mirren.

Tom Sparrow replaces Johnny Koutroumbis in the backline and suspended Callum Slattery is replaced by Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, who leads the line.

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Derek McInnes made it clear on Wednesday that he is targeting silverware in his first season with Hearts, who haven't won this competition since 1963.

Hearts don't have the best record at St Mirren but can take heart from a gritty Scottish Cup win on penalties there last season. They also go into the match off six straight wins, having beaten two of last season's top-six Premiership teams already in Aberdeen and Dundee United.

They have an opportunity to take a third scalp against St Mirren, who started their league campaign with a defeat at Celtic and a home draw with Motherwell, and McInnes was bullish when asked about his team's prospects in the cup competitions.

"There's not one player who should have signed for Hearts without having that aspiration to win a trophy here," the former Kilmarnock and Aberdeen boss said.

"If we don't win the cup, it doesn't mean we were wrong to say it. I don't think you're setting yourself up for a fall. We do believe we're good enough to go the full way and there's no point believing otherwise."

The head coach has talked the talk. His team now need to walk the walk.

Jonah Ayunga replaces Roland Idowu in St Mirren's only change following last week's draw with Motherwell, with Idowu on the bench.

For Hearts, debutant Pierre Landry Kabore, Alexandros Kyziridis and Tomas Bent Magnusson come into the side that defeated Dundee United as Alan Forrest, Claudio Braga and Blair Spittal drop to the bench.

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Greenock Morton: Storer, Delaney, Moore, Ballantyne, Longridge, Blues, Crawford, Moffat, O'Halloran, Brophy, Adeloye.

Substitutes: Murtdoch, Corr, Hart, Taylor, McKay, Garrity, Robertson, Shaw, Wilson.

Aberdeen: Mitov, Jensen, Milne, Dorrington, Molloy, Nilsen, Palaversa, Milanovic, Aouchiche, Morris, Yengi

Substitutes: Suman, Devlin, Shinnie, Polvara, Clarkson, Boyd, Sokler, Kjartansson, Keskinen

Partick Thistle: Clarke, Reading, Ashcroft, Chalmers, Crawford, O'Reilly, Fitzpatrick, McPherson, Stanway, Watt.

Substitutes: Budinauckas, Logan, Samuel, Lawless, MacKenzie, McBeth, Horn, Falconer, Low.

Ayr United: Mitchell, Watret, McAllister, Dick, Want, Bannigan, Thomas, Ure, Bonnar, McKenzie, Oakley.

Substitutes: Russell, Main, Hastie, Rus, Warbirck.

St Johnstone: Steward, Sprangler, Baird, Diabate, Foulds, Boyes, McAlear, Holt, Mallan, Gullan, Sidibeh.

Substitutes: Sinclair, Tumilty, Svedberg, Stanton, Ikpeazu, Steven, McPake, Bright, Kirk.

Motherwell: Ward, Sparrow, O'Donnell, McGinn, Longelo, Watt, Fadinger, Said, Just, Maswanhise, Stamatelopolos.

Substitutes: Oxborough, Balmer, Halliday, Wilson, Osong, Ross, Forrest, Gillies, McAllister.

St Mirren: George, Fraser, Gogic, Freckleton, Richardson, Phillips, Baccus, O'Hara, John, Ayunga, Mandron.

Substitutes: Mullen, King, Sobowale, Tanser, Taylor, Dijksteel, Idowu, Calvin, Mooney.

Hearts: Clark, Kent, Halkett, Findlay, Milne, Magnusson, Devlin, McEntee, Kabore, Shankland, Kyziridis.

Substitutes: Stone, Kingsley, Baningime, Kabangu, Braga, Steinwender, Spittal, Forrest, Wilson.

BBC Radio Scotland

A bumper Sportsound has just got under way on BBC Radio Scotland and Sounds.

The team will provide live match commentary from Paisley as Hearts visit St Mirren, plus there will be updates from the other grounds.

Coverage from Ibrox will follow later on.

The never-ending football schedule treats us to five League Cup last-16 ties today, four of which kick off in about an hour.

Five top-flight teams are in action as Aberdeen and Motherwell face Championship opposition, plus Rangers welcome lower-league Alloa in the evening.

But the game of the day looks like it could be in Paisley as Hearts are at St Mirren.

• Greenock Morton v Aberdeen
• Partick Thistle v Ayr Utd
• St Johnstone v Motherwell
• St Mirren v Hearts
• Rangers v Alloa Athletic (17:45 BST)

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