Dundee will start as firm favourites to negotiate their way through to the next round of the William Hill Scottish Cup on Saturday when they travel to play Championship side Dumbarton.
At the start of this season, Dens boss Paul Hartley identified the cup competitions as being of the utmost importance.
Unfortunately, Dundee were unceremoniously dumped out of the League Cup by Dunfermline back in August which has increased the pressure to do well in the Scottish Cup.
The Dark Blues have only won the famous old trophy once in their history in 1910, while their last appearance in the final was back in 2003 when they lost to Rangers thanks to a solitary Lorenzo Amoruso goal.
Since then there have been a few highs but an awful lot of lows for the club in the Scottish Cup.
In 2004 and 2005 there were early exits to Aberdeen and Hibs respectively while the following year, Dundee made it all the way to the semi-final only to lose 3-0 to Gretna.
In 2007, there was further early round disappointment, losing to Queen of the South on penalties while the next season, the same opponents knocked Dundee out in the quarter-finals.
The following two seasons saw another early loss to Celtic followed in 2010 by a disappointing defeat at Dens in the quarter-finals to Raith Rovers.
A year on and the Dark Blues were thumped 4-0 at home in the fourth round by Motherwell and there was another loss at the same stage of the competition in 2012 to Kilmarnock.
The next season, Dundee made it to the quarter-finals but their cup campaign was ended by local rivals United who won 2-1 at Dens thanks to goals by Brian McLean and Gary Mackay-Steven.
Last season, Dundee were handed an incredibly tough start to their Scottish Cup campaign, being drawn against Aberdeen at Dens.
The Dark Blues opened the scoring thanks to Thomas Konrad but the big German went from hero to zero when he put past his own keeper Scott Bain to bring the Dons level.
The game looked to be heading for a replay up at Pittodrie but right at the death, David Clarkson latched on to a James McPake knock-down to fire in the winner which meant the striker had scored in eight games in a row.
After that memorable victory, the Dark Blues were hoping for a kind draw instead, they were pulled out of the hat to play Celtic at home with the Hoops cruising to a comfortable 2-0 win at Dens thanks to goals from Stefan Johansen and former Dundee favourite Leigh Griffiths.
So can this finally be Dundee’s year?
If they can safely avoid the potential banana skin against the Sons on Saturday, then the draw will hopefully open up for Hartley’s side.
The likes of St Johnstone and Aberdeen are already out of this season’s competition, and there will be further Premiership casualties this weekend with United playing Partick Thistle while Motherwell host holders Inverness.
The “big two” in the Championship, Rangers and Hibs will also face top-tier opposition in the shape of Kilmarnock and Hearts respectively.
Of course, the elephant in the room as far as everyone remaining in the cup is concerned is the presence of Celtic who are all but assured of their place in the next round after being drawn against the minnows of East Kilbride.
However, Ross County showed in the semi-final of the League Cup on Sunday at Hampden that the Hoops are beatable.
So all in all, if Dumbarton are disposed of, then with the luck of the draw, this could yet be a season to savour for Dundee fans with a trip to Hampden in May.