Competition Format
Group Stages
The group stage involves 40 clubs - the 38 SPFL teams not involved in European competition plus Brora Rangers and Kelty Hearts, drawn into eight groups of five.
They were split into four North groups and four South groups. Each group contains one seeded club, one second seed and three unseeded clubs.
We were drawn in Group G, along with Queens Park, Morton, Partick Thistle and St Mirren.
Group matches
Clubs are awarded the usual three points for a win but all drawn games in the group stage go straight to penalties - the shoot-out winners receive a bonus point. ie three points for a win, two points for a shoot-out win and one point for losing on penalties.
Knock-out rounds
The eight group winners and four best runners-up progress to the second round, where they are joined by the four clubs competing in Europe.
The tournament reverts to a traditional knock-out format from the second round onwards, with ties decided by extra time and penalties if the scores are level after 90 minutes.