Clive Lindsay
BBC Scotland Sport

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It would be one of the biggest shocks in Scottish League Cup history if Aberdeen were not to extend their 10-game winning run since Jimmy Thelin took charge at the start of the season.

People will point to the Dons' dismal Scottish Cup exit at the hands of Darvel - a side from Scotland sixth tier - in early 2023.

And, yes, Spartans are two tiers higher and have already ed for one Premiership side this season, as well as a Livingston team who were in the top division last season, to secure a first ever national cup quarter-final.

But this is a different Aberdeen, this time the minnows are having to travel to Pittodrie and part-time Spartans have only won once in five outings since knocking out Ross County.

It has Reds fans dreaming of going one better than last year's 1-0 defeat by Rangers in the final and lifting the trophy for the first time since edging Inverness on penalties in 2014.

For Rangers, the big team news is that Nedim Bajrami makes his first start for the club.

Vaclav Cerny also comes into the side on the other flank, with Kieran Dowell and Oscar Cortes dropping to the bench from the team that beat Dundee United last time out.

Dujon Sterling is preferred to Mohammed Diomande in the heart of midfield.

Dundee go to a back five after their disappointing loss to Ross County.

Jon McCracken, Ethan Ingram, Josh Mulligan and Seb Palmer-Holden all drop out, with Trevor Carson, Jordan McGhee, Sammy Braybrooke and Oluwaseun Adewumi all coming into the starting line-up.

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St. Johnstone have conceded four goals in the last 15 minutes of second halves, no team has conceded more in the Premiership this season.

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• Hearts 0-0 Rangers
• Dundee 3-1 Hearts
• Falkirk 2-0 Hearts
• Viktoria Plzen 1-0 Hearts
• Motherwell 3-1 Hearts
• Hearts 0-1 Viktoria Plzen
• Hearts 0-1 Dundee Utd
• Celtic 2-0 Hearts
• St Mirren 2-1 Hearts

Nine games without a win. Eight defeats in a row. Six games without scoring.

Steven Naismith and his backroom team signed new contracts between that draw with Rangers and the start of their current losing run.

Eight - EIGHT - defeats in a row for Hearts.

Incredible. No wins all season, with a draw to add to that eight-game losing run.

That single point came on the opening day of the season against Rangers.

What a game in Dingwall.

A dramatic six-goal draw as managerless St Johnstone throw away a two-goal lead late on to the hosts.

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St Mirren win for the first time since the opening weekend in the Premiership as Hearts' losing run stretches to eight games in all competitions.

All of the goals came from set-pieces in the first half, with a Gerald Taylor own goal cancelled out by a Craig Halkett header, only for Toyosi Olusanya to crash in the Buddies' second.

St Mirren came closest to adding to their tally in a scrappy second half as bottom-of-the-table Hearts toiled in the final third once more.

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St Mirren look to wrap up the points in stoppage time but Craig Gordon gets fingertips to Roland Idowu's rising shot.

Aberdeen: Mitov, Devlin, Rubezic, Molloy, MacKenzie, Palaversa, Ketlne Nilsen, Clarkson, Gueye, McGrath, Nisbet.

Substitutes: Doohan, Shinnie, McGarry, Besuijen, Sokler, Morris, Milne, MacDonald, Keskinen.

The Spartans: Carswell, P Watson, Waugh, Sonkur, Booth, Craigen, Hunter, Dishington, Russell, Whyte, Henderson.

Substitutes: Meek, K Watson, Scott, Ritchie, Denholm, Lamont, Walls, Whittaker, Stowe.

Aidan Denholm lashes a strike over the bar as County hunt down an equaliser.

Nine minutes of stoppage time in Dingwall.

Still plenty if time for County to find a leveller.

A shocking from Stephen Kingsley allows Kevin van Veen to break from halfway.

The St Mirren forward drifts past Daniel Oyegoke with ease but then drills his shot a metre or so wide.

St Mirren substitute Kevin van Veen is not too far away with an ambitious, angled drive.

Hearts are top heavy with forwards as they chase the game and that may leave a few more gaps for the Dutch striker.