Under Eddie May, the youngsters reached the semi-finals of the competition in March before losing out to eventual trophy winners Hibernian.

This week James McBride's young guns learned that Elgin City would be their first opponents in the 2009-10 tournament, with the third round fixture being held at Stirling University on November 8.

And head of football development Ross Wilson told Heraldsport that the side would be targeting a place in the latter stages of the competition.

"We had a fantastic run last year in the cup, getting to the semi-finals, and I know the players really enjoyed playing in it, so we will certainly be hoping to have similar success this season," he said.

"It's a good experience for the boys to play in that type of cup tie situation and I think we have a good chance of progressing in the tournament.

"But, while it's a game we are all looking forward too, we will certainly not underestimate Elgin. They will be watched beforehand and we will be fully prepared for the encounter."

Last Friday the U19s retained their place at the top of table despite a 4-2 defeat to St Mirren. After taking a 2-1 lead early in the second half, the Bairns seemed to run out of steam and the visitors finished strongly to leave Stirling with all three points.

Ross went on: "Although we are delighted to be still sitting of top of the league, I know all the coaching staff were extremely disappointed with the performance.

"They did not show the same composure on the ball of recent games and, had they followed the instructions that the coaching had given them during the week, such as making the right decisions in certain areas, we might have won."

So this Saturday the young Bairns will be looking to put on an improved display when they visit Riccarton in Edinburgh to take on Hearts.

The Jambos are currently propping up the U19 table after a poor start to the season, but Ross is in no doubt they will present a stiff challenge.

"The amount of quality players that John Murray has produced in recent years – despite difficult circumstances – means that Hearts will always have some talented individuals so we expect a very tough game this weekend," he said.

Meanwhile, Ross has been in England this week, taking in a few games and meeting some of the academy's talent spotters.

"We are always working extremely hard to build up the recruitment networks at the club, which are a very important part of the academy," he explained.

"But this week was just part of our long-term strategy as we are very happy with the quality of the squad at U19 level just now and are not looking to bring anyone else in during January."

Highly-rated youngster Calum McLean is due to see a specialist about his recurring knee injury, but Sean Fraser returned to training this week in preparation for the match against Hearts, which is scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m.