Scott Paterson has warned the Partick Thistle squad that they cannot afford to take Formartine United lightly in Saturday’s Scottish Cup fourth round clash at Firhill.

You can get long odds on Formartine pulling off an unlikely upset, but Paterson says that no one should be fooled by their opponents’ Highland League status.

With several former full-time professionals with Premiership experience in their ranks, the Thistle assistant manager is expecting a tough afternoon, and that will be reflected in the Jags teamsheet.

“I started in the Highland league and it is a very tough league,” Paterson said.

“I watched Formartine against Cove Rangers a few weeks ago and I was impressed. They are a good team who have plenty of energy.

“We have told the players what to expect and we can’t take them lightly. We have prepared like we were playing Celtic or Aberdeen – there’s no difference for us.

“There is a lot of money involved with that club but you still have to use it well and they have. They have a lot of ex-pros in their team. We have to approach this in a professional manner and if we do then we should have no problem.

“They have guys like Garry Wood, Derek Young, Jamie Masson who is ex-Aberdeen, Scott Ferries as well, who is a very good player. I’m surprised he is at Formartine and I don’t mean any disrespect to them but he is such a good player.

“The beauty of the Cup is people expect a banana skin to happen and we just have to make sure it doesn’t happen to us.

“The boys know what is at stake and they don’t want to be the boys who are knocked out by a Highland league club.

“They have nothing to lose and all the pressure is on us. They will come down and enjoy the day and they will give it a right good go.

“We’re going to play our strongest team. We don’t want to be disrespectful to Formartine so it will be the strongest team available.”

While the annual tilt for a place in the top six of the Premiership is currently the main objective occupying minds at Thistle, Paterson acknowledges that a good run in the cup is not only important, but long overdue.

“We’ve always been disappointed that it has never happened for us,” he said. “Our main focus is the league and getting to the top six, but it is always good to get away from your bread and butter.

“It would be good and the draw we’ve been handed has given us a great opportunity. We need to make sure we go out there and do the job.”

Mustapha Dumbuya will return to the squad after long-term injury, but it looks doubtful that any loan deal for Reading defender Niall Keown will be completed in time for the match.

Keown, son of Arsenal legend Martin, is still training with the club after joining them on the trip to La Manga last week, and Paterson has been impressed by what he has seen of the player.

“There’s no developments yet, so we’ll need to see what happens,” he said. “He’s got a good opportunity here if everything goes through.

“He did really well with us over in Spain, he’s a good lad and he fitted into the group really well too. He knows Ryan Edwards from his time at Reading.

“He did well against Lokeren and he’s a good defender. He’s very much like his dad, he gets tight and he’s strong as well.”