Morton second seeds for Betfred Cup draw

We have been listed as second-level seeds in the 2017/18 Betfred Cup ahead of the upcoming group stage draw, which will be held at 6.30pm this coming Friday.

The country has been divided into two regionalised sections – north and south – with each being made of four groups of five clubs.

Each group will be composed of one top-level seed, one second-level seed and three unseeded clubs, with Jim Duffy’s men named in the south section of the draw alongside Queen of the South, St Mirren, and Dumbarton.

The south section pots are as follows:

First seeds: 5. Partick Thistle, 6. Kilmarnock, 7. Motherwell, 8. Hamilton Academical
Second seeds: 13. Morton, 14. Queen of the South, 15. St Mirren, 16. Dumbarton
Unseeded: 29. Ayr United, 30. Livingston, 31. Airdrie, 32. Queen’s Park, 33. Stranraer, 34. Albion Rovers, 35. Stenhousemuir, 36. Annan Athletic, 37. Edinburgh City, 38. Berwick Rangers, 39. Clyde, 40. East Kilbride

The draw will be conducted live on BT Sport 2 at 6.30pm, as well as being streamed live on BT Sport’s Facebook page and Twitter feed @btsportfootball, with the live stream shared by the SPFL’s own social media channels.

The group stage draw sees the 40 participating clubs scheduled to play four games across five match dates – Saturday 15 July, Wednesday 19 July, Saturday 22 July, Wednesday 26 July, and Saturday 29 July..

The format, announced in advance of the 2016 Betfred Cup, sees all drawn group matches go straight to a penalty shoot-out with the winners earning an extra bonus point in addition to the traditional point given for a draw.

The eight group winners and four best runners-up progress to the last 16, where they are joined by holders Celtic and fellow European representatives Aberdeen, Rangers, and St Johnstone.

It is anticipated that, following Friday evening’s draw, the fixture list and television selections will be published in the week commencing Monday 5 June.

Image: Jonathan Mitchell