Steve Clarke expects strong Kilmarnock following in Aberdeen
Last updated 2nd Mar 2018
Kilmarnock boss Steve Clarke expects to see a large travelling support in Pittodrie if their Scottish Cup quarter-final goes ahead.
Heavy snow and strong winds across the United Kingdom this week has caused severe disruption to travel, but Killie's trip to face Aberdeen is set to go ahead.
The pitch at Pittodrie will be closely monitored ahead of Saturday - with games in Perth and Dingwall already called off this weekend - and Clarke does not believe the bad weather will put the away fans off making the 340-mile round trip.
If the game is on then the supporters will be there. I know they'll get there,'' he said on Kilmarnock's official website.
The fans are excited, which is good because it means the team has excited them over the previous weeks.
It's massive. It's a cup quarter-final and with two wins you are at Hampden Park for the final.
Once you get to this stage you can start to smell the final and that's good for everybody.
The match looks as though it will go ahead, the only doubt would be any travel problems for the supporters to get to the game. I think the main roads are pretty clear now so hopefully it goes ahead.
Aberdeen will take care of the pitch and stadium and we look forward to a good cup tie.''
Killie's hopes of reaching the last four have been dealt a blow by the absence of key midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu, who has a groin injury, while they must also overcome an Aberdeen side who have already beaten them twice this season.
The Dons defeated Clarke's men 3-1 in their previous two meetings but go into the game on the back of successive losses, while Killie are without defeat in six, and the Rugby Park boss is confident they can pose problems on Saturday.
Clarke said: I'm sure Derek and his team won't underestimate us. He knows that they had to work hard in both games to beat us and there's a lot more pressure on them than Kilmarnock.
If our cup run stopped with an away defeat to Aberdeen in the quarter-final, we'd be disappointed. If Aberdeen's cup run stops with a defeat at home to Kilmarnock in the quarter-final then they'd be more than disappointed.''