DUNDEE kid Cammy Kerr has warned his team-mates to steel themselves for their trip to Peterhead's “horrible” Balmoor ground.

The Dark Blues head north for their third game in Group A buoyed by Saturday's 6-2 demolition of Dumbarton at Dens Park.

But full-back Kerr, 20, knows from two separate loan spells with the Blue Toon how tough it can be.

“It's a horrible place to go," Kerr said. “I loved my time up there and I learned a lot from playing first-team football. It was great experience.

“But on days it can be awful, believe me. Between the travelling up and the weather which can be anything, it can be a nightmare.”

Dundee are still without midfield pair Paul McGowan and Nicky Low as well as long-term crock James McPake.

BROWN FERGUSON, the Stenhousemuir manager, accepts that his side will not progress from Group E but insists they will continue to be competitive in their remaining fixtures, starting with Partick Thistle tonight.

Defeats to Queen’s Park and Airdrie have left the Warriors at the foot of their table but Ferguson has seen enough progress to look forward to facing Partick as he explained

“Partick Thistle will be a tough test however I am encouraged by the progress we have seen and we will look to give them a game," Ferguson said. "We cannot make the next stage but we have to use what will be a testing 90 minutes to help us get ready for the challenges ahead.”

Jim Paterson, Ciaran Summers and Jamie McCormack are all injury doubts for the Warriors.

Elsewhere, Ross County need a win on Alloa’s newly-installed artificial pitch having seen hopes of finishing top of Group D taken out of their own hands by a draw and penalty kicks defeat to Raith at the weekend.

Beating the Wasps tonight and then winning at home to Highland League Cove Rangers wouldn’t guarantee first spot, but would almost certainly be enough to take one of the four second-placed spots in the knock-out draw.

And manager Jim McIntyre will look to defender Christopher Routis, the 26-year-old Frenchman, to fill the boots of departed Jackson Irvine.

“He’s very composed on the ball and can pick a killer pass," the County manager said. "He shows great composure. He’s also got good physical size and presence.”

Kilmarnock vice-captain Miles Addison, meanwhile, has warned the new Rugby Park recruits they need to get to grips with first-team football quickly or risk another year of anguish.

Manager Lee Clark signed 11 new players during the summer after clearing out the majority of the squad which came so close to relegation last term.

But the Englishman's new-look side were humbled by Championship outfit Morton on Saturday as they suffered a 2-0defeat at home.

Jim Duffy's unbeaten Ton now look destined to top Group H but the desperate nature of his side's weekend loss has left Addison worried that Killie and their fresh-faced rookies could end up facing another fight for survival.

"It is a hard result to take but we didn't deserve anything from Saturday's game," Addison admitted. "We can analyse it as much as we like, but at the end of the day we can all look at ourselves in the mirror and know we didn't do enough as individuals to get anything from it.

"Quite a few of the boys who came in have not really played much first-team football and now they've had a taste of what the game is about up here."

Kilmarnock now travel to Shielfield Park to face Berwick Rangers. Clark's only absentee is teenage goalkeeper Devlin Mackay.

Elsewhere, Tommy Wright hopes St Johnstone can wrap up their place in the last 16 when they travel to Brechin tonight.

The Perth outfit produced an impressive display in their second-straight win of the new-look tournament as they beat Fakirk 3-0 on Saturday.

That puts Saints top of Group B, three points ahead of the Bairns, who have now suffered two losses out of three.

And Wright reckons victory at Glebe Park will book his team a slot in the knock-out rounds.

"We're in a really good position and hopefully one more win should get us top place," Wright said. "We will go to Brechin looking to put on another solid performance after beating Falkirk, looking to get the win we need."

Dunfermline midfielder Nat Wedderburn, meanwhile, admits he has more than one reason to try to make a point against Inverness Caledonian Thistle this evening.

After opening the competition with 3-0 victories over both Arbroath and Fife rivals Cowdenbeath, the Pars will go top of Group C if they can earn at least a draw against their Premiership visitors tonight.

However, Wedderburn also has a personal business against Inverness after spending last season with the Highlanders.

The 25-year-old looks back on the spell with mixed feelings but left at the end of the campaign disappointed at only making 10 starts in his 18 appearances for the top-flight outfit.

"I was obviously up there last year and they were frustrating times and a learning curve," Wedderburn said. "But I did enjoy my time up there at times as well.

"As a footballer you want to play as much as possible and when you're not playing it's not happy times.

"But I'm looking forward to the game and hopefully we can get the win."