THE PARS' poor start to the season sees them accompanying Saturday’s opponents St Mirren at the bottom of the Championship table.

As of yet, the bookmakers do not foresee Athletic occupying the fateful 10th position at the end of the season with Betvictor and Coral offering a 10/1 quote; Dumbarton being the 5/4 favourites.

The encounter at East End Park, to be televised by BBC Alba (5.15pm kick-off), has Dunfermline chalked up at 11/10, the draw 14/5 (Stan James) and the Buddies 12/5 (Betway). Neither side was expected to struggle and either or both could improve quite quickly; it will be interesting to see how the Buddies' decision to fire Alex Rae earlier in the week affects their performance on Saturday. This is therefore a game to observe, rather than bet on.

Prediction: Dunfermline 1 St Mirren 1.

Morton and Rangers have advanced to the semi-finals of the Betfred Cup, while Celtic were scheduled to have played Alloa last night (Wednesday). The final quarter-final takes place tomorrow (Thursday) evening, where Aberdeen entertain St Johnstone (BT Sport 1, 7.45pm). The Dons are 5/6 (Paddy Power/Hills), the draw 14/5 (Bet365) and Saints 19/5 with the sponsors. Aberdeen are 2/5 to reach the semi-finals; St Johnstone 2/1.

The League Cup tie has necessarily shunted Aberdeen’s weekend league game against Rangers to Sunday lunchtime, where once more the television cameras will be in attendance (Sky Sports 1, 1pm). The layers are finding it difficult to split the two sides: Aberdeen are 15/8 (Bet365), a draw 12/5 and the Gers 19/10 (Coral). Celtic are expected to make short work of Kilmarnock in a non-televised Saturday 3pm contest, being no bigger than 2/13 (Unibet). The Bhoys proved to be a coupon buster last week and if you fancy opposing them again, Killie are 22/1 (Coral) and the draw 8/1.

Celtic were destroyed by a rampant Barcelona in the Champions League last week but their group does not get a great deal easier as they face Manchester City at Celtic Park in their next outing (BT Sports Extra, Wednesday 7.45pm). The Citizens are no bigger than 1/3, the Bhoys 9/1 (10/1 if you have an account with Betfair Sportsbook) while it is 19/4 that honours end even.

The Champions League of the tungsten variety takes place over the weekend in Cardiff and the BBC provides the television coverage, starting at 12.15pm on Saturday. Michael Van Gerwen leads the outright betting at 5/6 (Betway), Phil Taylor is 5/1 (Bet365), Gary Anderson 11/2, Adrian Lewis 16/1 (Bet365), Peter Wright 18/1, James Wade 22/1 (Coral), Michael Smith 33/1 and Robert Thornton 80/1.