Finish off one round of the Scottish Cup and then another one pops along four days later for Motherwell.

Motherwell boss Mark McGhee is looking forward to the fifth round of the Scottish Cup when he will welcome St Mirren on Saturday after four postponements in the fourth round. Motherwell made the fifth round thanks to a John Sutton double which sandwiched David Clarkson's goal to secure a win over a spirited Inverurie Locos side at Harlaw Park. The result allowed McGhee to look ahead as Motherwell attempt to progress further still.

McGhee said "We're delighted to be in the next round. We now play St Mirren at home, and at this stage of the competition the best you can hope for is a home draw. It will be a tough game as it always is against Gus MacPherson's side, but if we can put on a good performance on Saturday, then who knows what will happen? All the teams remaining in the competition have ambitions to get to the final. We'll face another SPL team who we've already done well against this season but beyond that you don't know who you're going to get. If you end up drawn against one of the Old Firm away from home, it becomes more difficult, but if you get a wee bit of luck in the draw then you've every chance of going all the way."

The former Leicester and Wolves boss was not full of smiles, however, as his plans will have to be made without striker Chris Porter who moved on to Derby for a fee of £400,000. Despite McGhee not getting a sight of the transfer fee he has managed to expand his squad. Loan signings Cillian Sheridan, from Celtic, and Birmingham winger Semih Aydilek will come into contention for Saturday's tie against the Buddies, and McGhee was pleased with his shopping trip. He said: "Losing Chris Porter is a big blow to us, but we hope the two boys we've brought in will bring something fresh to us. It'll be a boost to us for the remainder of the season and I think that's what's needed at this stage of the season. We've been disappointed to drop six points by drawing three games in January, but we still have ambitions of a third-place finish. We've dropped off the pace but still have to play the teams around us."

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