By Graham Barnstaple
January 27 2012

There is a big weekend in the League Cup with the semis being played across the weekend.

First up tomorrow is the Ayrshire Derby between Ayr andKilmarnock, and this could be the tie of the weekend with no love lost between these two clubs.

They don’t get to meet up very often these days withAyrbouncing between the First and Second Divisions while Killie can be classed as an established SPL side. This tends to make the rivalry even deeper every time they play, as they only come together in Cup competition.

Ayr are struggling at the bottom of the First Division this season, and manager Brian Reid has been making a point of his team being part time, but counterpart Kenny Shiels has tried to play this down.

This should be a win for Killie as the SPL side but the rivalry means you can’s rule outAyr.

On Sunday Celtic take onFalkirkat Hampden in front of the TV Cameras. This again should be a one side game, but Celtic will need be aware that Falkirk are only in the semi final after seeing off Rangers earlier in the tournament.

At the same stage last season Celtic were clinical in their demolition ofAberdeenand I would suspect this will be the same on Sunday, given the run of form the SPL leaders are on.

My only disappointment for the weekend is that the Ayrshire derby is not a live game, giving it greater coverage. The Old Firm Cup tie is the safe option but not always the best option as the Scottish Cup games at Arbroath and Peterhead proved!