THE PARS are considered 5/1 second favourites with Betvictor to lift the Irn-Bru Challenge Cup as the competition reaches the last 16 stage on Saturday. Allan Johnston's men must defeat Alloa Athletic at East End Park to prolong their interest in the tournament but the bookmakers do not see this as problematic: Dunfermline are 8/15; a 90-minute draw 16/5 (Hills) and Alloa 5/1.

By taking the 8/15, you are assuming that the Pars are going to operate with pretty much a full-strength team and are not going to be complacent. Dunfermline should emerge victorious but the price is too short to advise taking against opposition that are capable of springing a surprise if the Pars do not fire on all cylinders.

Prediction: Dunfermline 2 Alloa 1.

Two of the other games are televised. BBC Alba are showing the Arbroath versus Edinburgh City match at Gayfield Park tomorrow (Friday) night (7.35pm kick-off) in a battle of two division leaders. The Red Lichties are 4/7 (Coral), a draw 16/5 (Betway) and the Citizens 9/2 (Betfred).

The fact that the competition is open to teams in the UK throws up intriguing fixtures that you wish the layers best of luck in pricing up. One such example is the Saturday evening contest (7.30pm, S4C) featuring Connah’s Quay Nomads and Coleraine. The Nomads are even money, a draw 13/5 and the Bannsiders 12/5.

The UEFA Nations League’s second batch of double fixtures take place today (Thursday), although the bookmakers have, at the time of writing, only priced the first set of matches. All the games can be seen on the Sky Sports football channel, starting with Scotland’s trip to Israel (tonight, 7.45pm). A Scottish win would consolidate their position at the top of the table while defeat would mean all three teams will have won one and lost one of their two matches. Israel are 13/8 (Betfred), a draw 11/5 and Scotland 2/1 (Bet365). Once again, not a clash to be too dogmatic about but Israel are not an especially convincing team and Scotland are value to take the three points.

Prediction: Israel 0 Scotland 2.

Austria and Northern Ireland are both lagging behind Bosnia in their group and need to get on the board quickly if they are going to feature in the competition. The two meet tomorrow (7.45pm) and the prices are Austria 8/15, a draw 16/5 (Hills) and Northern Ireland 13/2 (Coral/Betfred).

At the same time, Croatia play England behind closed doors in Rijeka where again, both teams are searching for their first point. The odds are: Croatia 9/5 (Bet365), England 9/5 and a stalemate 11/5.

The Republic of Ireland entertain Denmark on Saturday (7.45pm); the best prices being Eire 21/10, a draw 21/10 (Betvictor) and the Danes 31/20 (Hills).