Never Mind the Baldocks! There will be no brotherly love when Brighton face the MK Dons tomorrow.

I feel like I used to feel on Christmas Eve as a kid! One day to go before the 12^th match on the Road to Wembley from Scotland at the Amex Stadium where Brighton and Hove Albion will host the MK Dons in the third round of the FA Cup. The two protagonists are approaching this match in different ways. The Seagulls are totally focussed on gaining promotion to the Premier League and will take this opportunity to rest a few players whereas the Dons will be going for it lock, stock and two smoking Baldocks.

The Brighton boss Chris Hughton has just appeared on Sky Sports News as I am typing this and revealed that he will be looking at this match as “an opportunity to use the squad”. We all know what that means. Brighton are hence expected to rest their key players and give game time to those who have been either warming the bench or sat in the stands recently. From the Scots links perspective this is good news as it means he will almost certainly start with Flying Scotsman Jamie Murphy on the left wing

Jamie Murphy: Now following me on twitter (ta Jamie)

The ex-Motherwell man Murphy has been named as a substitute recently and will use this match as a chance to impress the gaffer. I am predicting a man-of-the-match performance from the talented Glaswegian.

If Chris Hughton has a sense of occasion he will also select Sam Baldock to lead the line. Sam is the first choice striker for the Seagulls and has recently been in great goal scoring form. He is 27 years old, born in Buckinghamshire and he came through the youth ranks with his local team – Milton Keynes Dons. The Dons sold him to West Ham in 2011 and he has arrived at the Amex via a subsequent spell with Bristol City. George Baldock is Sam’s younger brother. The 23 year old has also progressed from the MK Dons youth ranks. Unlike Sam, George is still plying his trade at Stadium MK where he is the first choice right back and many Dons fans consider that he is currently their best player.

What a load of Baldocks: Sam and George expected to go head to head tomorrow

With Sam on the lookout for goals and George determined to stop Brighton scoring what are the chances of a few meaty 50 / 50 challenges between the brothers tomorrow?

If Dons’ Scots boss Robbie Neilson is as good as his word and puts out his strongest 11 then that probably will mean that the young Scots centre back Jack Hendry is once again consigned to the subs bench. However, according to rumours up here in Bella Caledonia it won’t be long before Scots feature in the starting XI for the Dons. Neilson is expected to sign Dundee goalie Scott Bain and Hearts forward Robbie Muirhead (see Dec 1^st post on this blog) within the next week.

One additional note from the Joe McGhie story reported on this blog last week (Scots centre half for Brighton in the 1910 Charity Shield match). I have continued the dialogue with his grandson Clifford on facebook and he tells me that Joe was an ‘unbelievably hard hard man’. Apparently before he was able to make a living as a professional footballer he worked down the pit. First making his ‘debut’ in the coalmines at the age of 9! Changed days …

Who will successfully dig in for victory tomorrow? Which players will put in a good shift? When Brighton and Hove Albion take on the MK Dons tomorrow it could be the most exciting match yet on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. Come back here on Sunday evening to find out how it all pans out. Keep reading …