THE PARS will have been disappointed to have dropped two points at home to St Mirren last week as it checked their league momentum and would not have been ideal preparation coming into this weekend’s awkward Scottish Cup fourth round tie.

The Pars go to Alloa, with whom they swapped divisions last season. The Wasps are second in Division One but the bookmakers rate Dunfermline as the favourites to progress; they are 23/20 (Paddy Power), a draw 11/4 (Stan James) and Alloa 12/5. Dunfermline are 4/7 to make it through the tie at any stage, Alloa 5/4.

Crucially, the Clackmannanshire side have suffered a dip in form (two wins in their last nine league games) at the wrong time heading into this clash and the Pars are fancied to squeak through.

Prediction: Alloa 0 Dunfermline 1.

Three games are televised over the weekend, beginning with the all-Premiership clash featuring Rangers and Motherwell (Sky Sports 1, 12.30pm). The layers see a straightforward result for the Gers, who are 4/11, the ’Well are 8/1 (Betvictor), while it is 17/4 (Betvictor/Stan James) that the contest requires a replay.

On Sunday, Old Firm rivals Celtic face a trip to Coatbridge as they try to eliminate Albion Rovers from the competition (Sky Sports 1, 3pm). This has the look of a game where focusing on handicaps is the best betting medium with the match prices Celtic 1/9 (Betway), a draw 19/2 (Betvictor) and Albion 28/1 (Coral). The Celtic -1 prices are the Bhoys 2/7, a tie 17/4 (Coral) and Wee Rovers 13/2; off -2 Celtic are 10/11 (Paddy Power), a tie 10/3 (Betfred/Skybet) and Albion 12/5 (Stan James); at -3 Celtic are 19/10 (Betway), a tie 10/3 and Albion evens (Coral).

Arguably, the most attractive game is Hearts’ tricky-looking visit to Championship side Raith Rovers. The Jambos are 1/2 (Stan James/Ladbrokes) to triumph, a draw is 7/2 and the Rovers 6/1.

Of the other games, a team worth a small interest at a decent price is East Fife, who take on their league leaders Livingston at Almondvale. Livi are nicely clear in Division One but have lost six league matches, including a defeat to the in-form Fifers on New Year’s Eve. The Methil outfit have won five and drawn one of their last six games and that superior sequence of results makes them a wager at 13/2 (Bet365).

The first tennis grand slam tournament is under way in Melbourne and at the time of writing, the outright prices are as follows; in the men's competition, Novak Djokovic is 6/4, Andy Murray 2/1 (Boylesports), Stan Warwinka 18/1 (Boylesports), Rafael Nadal 20/1, Milos Raonic 22/1 (both prices Skybet) and Roger Federer 25/1. All five quoted players also have ‘stage of elimination’ prices available.

In the ladies' tournament, Serena Williams is 11/4 (Boylesports), Angelique Kerber 4/1, Karolina Pliskova 6/1, Garbine Muguruza 12/1 and Britain’s Johanna Konta 16/1.

Other betting opportunities include individual match betting, naming the finalists and selecting a player to win their quarter.