Fancy a flutter?

Stirling Albion hit the Scottish Cup trail this weekend when they head across the border to play Berwick Rangers at Shielfield on Boxing Day.

Kevin Rutkiewicz’s side travel south on the back of an impressive 3-2 win at Edinburgh City and having lost just once in nine League Two fixtures this season. It will be their first visit to Shielfield since February 2019 when goals from a Dylan Mackin penalty and Darren Smith sealed a 2-1 success.

Berwick dropped out of the SPFL at the end of that season and are sitting 11th out of 17 in the Lowland League, having ended a run of four defeats with a 2-0 win over Cumbernauld Colts at Broadwood on Saturday.

Ian Little’s side came from behind to beat East of Scotland League side Dunipace 3-1 at Westfield in the second preliminary round a fortnight ago to set up the first Scottish Cup meeting between the teams since January 1994, when the Binos prevailed 1-0 at Forthbank.

Rutkiewicz’s men will be favourites to reach the second round on January 9, when Championship and League One teams enter the competition. However, with no replays in the 2020/21 Scottish Cup, ties will be settled after extra time and penalties if required so there is no margin for error as Albion look to start a good cup run.

Stirling saw off Strathspey Thistle 2-0 in their first Scottish Cup tie last season thanks to a Sean Heaver double but went down to Clyde by the same score in the next round.

Albion have had their struggles against non-league opposition in recent years, squeezing past the likes of Hurlford United and Whitehill Welfare and suffering a humiliating 5-3 home defeat to Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale during Dave Mackay’s time as manager.

Midfielder David Wilson and defender Lewis Magee will miss the Berwick match due to injury and both look likely to face lengthy spells on the sidelines.

Rutkiewicz (pictured) is pleased with the start his side have made to the season but knows the importance of a cup run for both football and financial reasons and is wary of the threat posed by Berwick, whose squad includes experienced midfielder Darren Smith who helped Stirling win promotion in 2013/14.

He said: “I was delighted with the win at Edinburgh last week. We were outstanding in the first half and we saw the game out under pressure in the second half.

“It’s a very tricky tie down at Berwick. Last year we got a good tie at home to Strathspey and they were a team you would expect us to beat and we did that – it was 2-0 on the day and it should have been a lot more but this is a very different game.

“I’ve watched Berwick and they have players who have played at a good level. They are well organised and they have home advantage – they carry a physical threat with the likes of Lewis Allan and Calum Smith up front. Jordan Sinclair in the middle of the park and Ryan Finnie have also played at a good level in the SPFL so this game is certainly not a given.

“We’ve been down there before and we know how hard it is to get a result. I’m well aware of the pitfalls and it’s not a tie I would have handpicked, put if that way. These games can derail you if you are not right at it so we need the same attitude and application we had at Ainslie Park.

“If we do that then, hopefully, we can get the right result.”

Stirling Albion are in Scottish Cup first round action this week and they face a trip to England to play it.

The Forthbank side pushed themselves up to joint second in League Two at the weekend with their second win in a row with an impressive victory at Edinburgh City.

Yet, Mcbookie.com make Stirling joint fourth favourites to win the title at 16/1 with Stenhousemuir. Queen’s Park are now huge 1/10 favourites with Elgin City 8/1 and Edinburgh 10/1. On Saturday, Albion face a return to former Scottish League stalwarts Berwick Rangers at Shielfield.the sides were in the same league four years in a row up until Berwick’s relegation. Stirling won three out of four that season and are odds-on at 4/6 to seal another win against a Berwick side struggling in 11th place in the Lowland League this season.

Berwick are 5/2 and the draw is 16/5.

Both teams to score and a Stirling win is 14/5. Over 2.5 goals and a win for Stirling is 6/4.

Albion are 13/8 to win to nil and 13/10 to keep a clean sheet.

Stirling University are massive 1/5 favourites to beat fellow students Edinburgh University, who are 11/2 with the draw 6/1.