OVER the years, if there was one of the major trophies in Scottish football that could bring about a surprise winner then it was the League Cup.

Livingston, Kilmarnock, St Mirren as I remember so well from 2013, Ross County, even Aberdeen, have all taken the silverware home with them. Motherwell will go in to Sunday’s final confident that they can be the next of the unfancied runners to succeed at Hampden.

They’ll believe it – but I don’t. Not now. Because all of those teams had their moment of glory before this current Celtic side arrived on the scene. That’s not to say Motherwell don’t have a chance, far from it.

There is always the chance of an upset, an unexpected result in cup football, when it’s a two-horse race. I like that.

Read more: Stephen McManus: Criticism of Motherwell has been disappointing - we are far more than a long ball team

I hear people saying Stephen Robinson’s side has something about them, and they do. They bring a physicality to the game that some might not fancy. They get stick for that, usually from them who don’t fancy it.

The manager too has proven himself pretty adept at coming up with ways to win games against more fancied opposition.

Last week against Aberdeen, he completely bamboozled Derek McInnes with the diamond formation he adopted in midfield. He also did the same in the League Cup semi-final, flooding the middle of the park to smother Rangers, not that there is any way you could compare Rangers with what the ‘Well will face on Sunday, even if Celtic enter this final after taking a pasting in the Champions League.

But they’ll still have to be on the top of their game just to last the 90 minutes.

Because just like Celtic were confronted by PSG making changes which saw them move up a gear, so Motherwell will know that even if they make it through an hour on Sunday, and still in the game, Celtic have the guys on the bench that can take advantage of a tiring team.

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You saw that when Aberdeen gave their lot in the Scottish Cup final. But it was Celtic’s substitutes that won it for them. And that is something that places Celtic apart from every other team in Scotland, even if they appeared ordinary in Paris. Celtic do have frailties, and Motherwell do have a couple of players who might just play on that.

Chris Cadden has a great delivery from out wide, and it has been a potent threat to most teams in Scotland. He has set up four of the last six goals Motherwell have scored. That’s someone who is on his game, and his head-to-head with Kieran Tierney – his old pal from school – will be an interesting dynamic to the game.

If Cadden can get the ball in the right place, chances are he’ll want Louis Moult on the end of it. He has 50 goals in 95 games during his time at Fir Park. That is a phenomenal ratio, particularly when you consider he’s been registering those returns with Motherwell.

They are the Motherwell’s key men, but for all their players this will be an amazing week. You have to remember, that for all the players who play professional football, very few get the chance to sample playing at Hampden on such an occasion. 

Read more: Stephen McManus: Criticism of Motherwell has been disappointing - we are far more than a long ball team

If you play for Celtic, or as I did with a successful Rangers side, getting to cup finals was normal. These experiences come around at least,once a season. 

For provincial clubs however, this could be a once in a lifetime occasion and you should enjoy it, savour everything, from the media attention, to family and friends wishing you all the best, to the excitement generated for the fans, who might never have seen their team in a major final.

Motherwell are not out of this, but look at the facts. Celtic have gone 60-plus games unbeaten and during that time, there will not have been a single permutation or formation that someone hasn’t tried against them.

The fact that undefeated total keeps growing only shows that no-one has figured out a way to beat Celtic, or get the better of Brendan Rodgers.

What ever the game, domestically, Rodgers has managed to get his side up, and summon a result or a performance from somewhere. 

This might be a test for the manager this weekend, especially off the back of a loss and an aggregate score of 12-1 versus PSG this term.
But he’ll have players he can utilise; Leigh Griffiths, Stuart Armstrong, Scott Sinclair. They won’t be held back, not with a cup to win, and not when Celtic and Brendan Rodgers have a double-treble firmly in their sights.

For me, Celtic are favourites and I’m not arguing with that. It’s for Motherwell to prove everyone – including me – wrong.