ATHLETIC will travel to Championship opposition in the next round of the Scottish Cup after the draw was made yesterday evening.

Following the conclusion of Ayr United's tie with Pollok, the ties for the fourth round were selected, and have handed James McPake's League One leaders a trip to Partick Thistle.

Dunfermline sealed their progression with a 4-0 win over League Two Forfar Athletic on Saturday, thanks to Craig Wighton's brace; a first senior goal for Rangers loanee, Kane Ritchie-Hosler; and a Josh Edwards strike.

Following that success, assistant boss, Dave Mackay, commented: "I think it was a good performance all round.

"Some of the play was excellent, some of the goals were very good as well. Really pleasing because these games can be tricky against a team who has been struggling in the league.

"It was break for them today and you can almost see it as a wee bit of a free hit for them to come down and it be a little bit of a release from the league campaign. They started pretty well for 10 minutes or so, but after we got the first goal we looked very comfortable and played some really good stuff."

Ahead of the draw, he added: "Personally, as a coaching staff, I don`t know how the players would feel, but you don’t want one of the big teams.

"You want to go as far as you can in this competition. Not to say that we couldn`t beat any of them, but you want to have a decent home draw, you`d think, although our away form has been very good this season."

That win over the Loons was the club's first victory in a Scottish Cup tie since 2017, when they defeated Queen's Park 4-1 at Hampden in the third round.

Their bid to reach round five for the first time since the 2016/17 season, when they lost to Hamilton Academical on penalties after a replay, takes them to familiar territory at Firhill.

The Pars and the Jags clashed SIX times in all competitions last season, which included a group stage victory in the League Cup for Athletic in Maryhill, before they lost there by a single goal in the Scottish Cup.

Ian McCall's team won three of the teams' meetings last term, while Dunfermline added a 4-1 league win to their League Cup success.

The Pars, though, are winless - and without a goal - on their last three visits to Thistle, but have emerged victorious in eight of 11 Scottish Cup ties between the pair.

Dunfermline have won six and drawn one of their eight league matches on the road, with the only two goals conceded coming in their only defeat, at Montrose.

Thistle, who reached round four with a 3-0 win over Kelty Hearts, are fifth in the Championship, and have registered four wins and two draws from their eight home matches in the league.

The tie will be played over the weekend of January 21 2023.

The full fourth round draw is:

Alloa Athletic v Falkirk

Arbroath v Motherwell

Celtic v Greenock Morton

Cove Rangers v Ayr United

Darvel v Aberdeen

Dundee United v University Of Stirling

Elgin City v Drumchapel United

Hamilton Academical v Ross County

Hibernian v Heart Of Midlothian

Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Queen's Park

Kilmarnock v Dumbarton

Linlithgow Rose v Raith Rovers

Partick Thistle v PARS

St Johnstone v Rangers

St Mirren v Dundee

Stenhousemuir v Livingston.