Morton second seeds for Betfred Cup draw

We have been listed as second-level seeds in the 2018/19 Betfred Cup ahead of the group stage draw, which will be held at 6.30pm tonight.

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 the Ton named in the south section of the draw alongside St Mirren, Livingston, and Queen of the South.

The south section pots are as follows:

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

The draw will be conducted live on BT Sport 2 at 6.30pm, as well as being streamed live on BT Sport’s official Facebook page and Twitter feed @btsportfootball.

The group stage draw sees the 40 participating clubs scheduled to play four games across five match dates – Saturday 14 July, Wednesday 18 July, Saturday 21 July, Wednesday 25 July, and Saturday 28 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 Hibernian.

The group stage fixture list and TV selections will be published in due course.

Image: Jonathan Mitchell