Joe Harper: Aberdeen attitude is key to avoiding a cup shock at Morton
It's been a while since I've been back to Cappielow but I'll be joining Gothenburg Great John McMaster, who also played for the Ton and the Dons, for the game.
I wish I could say I was heading there full of confidence about seeing an Aberdeen win given the slow start to the season for Jimmy Thelin's side.
The biggest issue for me so far is that the team is clearly taking time to gel.
The forward line is where the biggest changes have happened in the summer with a new striker in Kusini Yengi being supported by two other new faces in Adil Aouchiche and Nicolas Milanovic – and of course Topi Keskinen.
Maybe it was the tough start against Hearts at Tynecastle then champions Celtic but it's clear after no points and no goals that there is work to be done at Pittodrie in getting this new-look team up and running.
I hope Saturday's cup tie can be the game to do just that.
It was interesting to read the manager's comments about the players needing to move on from their Hampden heroics in the Scottish Cup final in May.
I'd argue they need to tap into those wonderful memories from winning the final, lifting the cup, celebrating with the fans, then returning home to the Granite City for further amazing scenes with 100,000 people in the city centre in the open-top bus parade.
Moments like that are what you play this game for, and you should be using those experiences to drive you on to experience it again.
Winning a cup is a great feeling and one players should be desperate to savour over and over again.
As far as I'm concerned Saturday is all about attitude. Aberdeen are a better team with better players but they cannot take their Championship hosts lightly.
If they do, then trouble lies ahead.
This is Morton's cup final and Ton boss Dougie Imrie, his players and the home support will be full of belief they can shock the Dons by knocking them out of the cup.
They've made life difficult for Premiership teams in the past. They knocked Hearts out of the Scottish Cup in 2024 and pushed Hearts all the way in the quarter-final before losing 1-0.
They are stubborn, tough opponents who will be ready to battle for their club.
That's why Aberdeen's approach has to be spot-on.
League defeats to Hearts and Celtic are one thing as you have time to recover from that over the course of a 38-game league campaign.
But an early cup exit would be a devastating blow for the Dons and a huge setback on the eve of their Europa League play-off next week.
Dons boss Thelin has got to get his squad in the right frame of mind, and they have to go to Cappielow with the intention of showing their quality and getting through to the next round.
It's encouraging to see the Dons squad is about to be bolstered by the arrival of two new attacking players in striker Marko Lazetic and winger Kenan Bilalovic.
Lazetic has been on Aberdeen's radar for months now and I'm intrigued to see what he will bring to the team.
The Dons have been on Lazetic's trail for months and have fought hard to bring the Serbian striker to Pittodrie from Milan and that has got me curious about what he'll do.
He was clearly rated as a huge prospect as a teenager, but it hasn't quite worked out for him in Italy.
But it's refreshing to hear Lazetic has shown a desire to make a new start in Scotland with Aberdeen.
Varnamo winger Bilalovic has completed his move to Pittodrie after the Dons agreed a fee with his club in Sweden.
It's another young face joining the ranks of Jimmy Thelin's squad but he looks a versatile option as a player who operates on either wing.
Competition for places is encouraging and here's hoping they can deliver.
Good luck to Dons boss Scott Booth and his Aberdeen FC women's players who get their new season under way on Sunday.
Booth has been busy reshaping his squad this summer and it's very much a new-look women's team which will be representing the club in SWPL1.
A trip to league champions Hibernian is a tough start but it is one which I'm sure Booth and his squad will be relishing.
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