St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson believes Cowdenbeath are lucky to have Maurice Ross at the helm as he prepares to take the Buddies to Fife on Saturday.
Ross worked under Robinson at Motherwell before he left to become assistant manager at Notts County before taking over the Blue Brazil last November.
Robinson, keen to make up for the 1-0 home defeat in the Premier Sports Cup against Arbroath last week when they take on Ross’s side, who were relegated to the Lowland League last season, said: “I have total respect for Maurice Ross.
“I think he is a top, top coach, one of the best I have worked with, if not the best, and I think Cowdenbeath are very lucky to have him.
“I think he can go pretty far in the game, I repeat, Cowdenbeath are very lucky to have him.
“There is a difference between coaching and managing.
“Managing at a level where money is tight and you have part-time players, it is certainly a learning curve in management but in terms of coaching he is top class, I can’t compliment him enough.
“So he will have them very organised, hard to break down and obviously we will take the game to them and we have to make sure we come out with the right result.”
Kilmarnock hope to get their first win in the group when they make the trip to Montrose.
Livingston travel to Cove Rangers and St Johnstone are away to Queen of the South.
In the final game involving a cinch Premiership club, Ross County are at home to Dunfermline and boss Malky Mackay told the club’s Twitter account: “The pitch is absolutely fantastic at the moment and great to get our first home game.
“It’s good for our fans to see a lot of the new players that we have got in a competitive environment.
“We know it is going to be a tough one. Dunfermline have come down to the First Division, they are one of the bigger clubs in Scottish football and they will be looking to win that and get back up
“They have a new manager in James (McPake) who was a Premiership manager last year (Dundee).
“So it will be a tough one but we are really looking forward to it.”
Dundee travel to Stranraer, Clyde host Morton, Arbroath are at Edinburgh City and Forfar Athletic welcome Hamilton.
Elsewhere, Annan Athletic host Elgin City, Alloa Athletic travel north to Buckie Thistle, Kelty Hearts take on Albion Rovers, Dumbarton travel to Peterhead. Raith Rovers face Stirling Albion and Stenhousemuir meet Fraserburgh.
