FROM THE TOUCHLINE: Mark McGhee knows there is no room for complacency when his team go to Inverurie

The inclusion of the big guns in the Scottish Cup fourth round raises again the prospect of a giant killing. Looking down the list of this season's fixtures for the danger ties, our own fixture away to Inverurie Locos is as obvious banana skin as any other in the draw!

But what constitutes a giant killing and what is simply a bit of a shock? A true giant killing is about both teams, not just the larger of the two clubs. It's about the difference in league standings, finances, historical achievement and expectations.

Dundee might defeat Celtic or perhaps St Johnstone will dump Rangers out, but these do not constitute true giant killings. These ties don't meet all the criteria required. They would represent fabulous results for the two provincial clubs but don't have that romantic ingredient of a Berwick Rangers or a Super Caley go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious' result.

I think that there has to be more than one division between the clubs and the larger of the two has to be a contender to win the competition.

The other ties that ring alarm bells are Dundee United away to East Stirlingshire and Aberdeen at Alloa.

So how do we as managers prepare our teams for the challenge?

Good recent form can help. If a team is playing with confidence then there is less danger, but when a team goes into one of these fixtures with any self doubt then they can be embarrassed.

If players approach these matches with anything less than total respect for the opposition then they can be in trouble.

As our players are unfamiliar with the Inverurie team we will be giving them more information than we would when we play the likes of Rangers as our players see them and play against them on a regular basis and know their squad inside out.

We will prepare as thoroughly as we would for any SPL opponent and we will travel north prepared for a difficult match.

I have only once in my playing career been involved in what would constitute a giant killing. As a Hamburg player.

The German cup, the DFB Pokal, started at the beginning of the season and the big guns were included. We were drawn against a team called Geislingen, away, and played them before the first league match of the 1984/85 season. We lost 2-0 and were justifiably slaughtered by the press. Our problem that day was attitude.

No-one even bothered to explain to me that this was an important cup match and as I spoke no German at that time I suppose you could say that the match was lost in translation.

The cup was a brilliant competition for me as a player: I have five winners' medals. As a manager in England the closest I came to success in the FA Cup was with Wolves when we lost 1-0 to eventual winners Arsenal in a semi-final.

Last year, Motherwell missed a great opportunity to go all the way in the cup and this year we hope to do better. A run in the cup is an important income stream for the club as well as being the competition in which supporters of clubs outside of the Old Firm hold most hope of success in.

When the draw was made for this round there was talk of the match being moved to Pittodrie or even being switched to Fir Park. I was not in agreement with either of these options. I'm a traditionalist and believe that the cup is about these sorts of challenges for the bigger clubs.

As manager of Reading I took my team to play an FA Cup tie against Slough. This was a local derby and with a capacity crowd of about 3000 at Slough's Holloways Park, it was a leveller. They gave us an almighty scrap and took us to a replay which fortunately we won. Our attitude in the first match was spot on and was the reason we lived to fight another day. Those Slough players were out to prove something and almost did. It will be the same at Recreation Park, Ochilview and Harlaw Park on Saturday.