David Tanner looks ahead to his 'favourite weekend of the year'

Presenter David Tanner previews an annual highlight, Scottish Cup fourth round weekend. As the Premiership sides, St Mirren, Hibernian, Rangers and QOS join the tournament, there's a double helping of live action on Sky Sports 1 on Sunday afternoon...

Happy New Year to you all!

This is one of my favourite weekends in the football calendar as it brings a real freshness and adds excitement. It's when the professionals appear on the same bill as amateurs and non-league sides get the chance to enter the history books.

Exactly a decade ago, I witnessed what I consider to be the biggest upset of the modern-era. The day Roy Keane lost on his Celtic debut at Clyde. The Bully Wee were paying their players around £150-a-week and manager Graham Roberts had scouted his youthful squad by holding X-Factor-style auditions in pre-season.

Last season, Aberdeen's defeat at Dundee was dramatic and Falkirk's run to the final was fantastic. Inverness eclipsed all of their previous cup adventures by lifting the trophy. That the cup currently resides in the Highlands for the first time in its long history is a reminder that anything can happen.

This year the last 32 includes four non-league teams: Highland League Cove Rangers, Linlithgow Rose from the Juniors and intriguingly East of Scotland League side Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale play the Lowland League's East Kilbride.

Maybe, just maybe…

On Sunday, I'll be in studio for a Sky Sports Scottish Cup double bill.

There's a classic cup mismatch with League One Stranraer welcoming the mighty Celtic. You would think that the champions would wipe the floor with their part-time rivals… but wait! The last time Celtic were drawn against a third tier club in this tournament, Neil Lennon's side drew with Arbroath… in Glasgow. It took a wonderful Adam Matthews goal to secure passage.

Celtic may be the leaders of the Premiership, but they are clearly not in a good place. Confidence seems fragile and last Saturday's performance against Partick Thistle was among the worst fans have seen at Celtic Park in recent years.

Leigh Griffiths' stoppage time winner provided huge relief for Ronny Deila, who has seen form and results slump since skipper Scott Brown was injured. Four wins from their last 10 games (all competitions) is a terrifying statistic for a club of Celtic's stature.

Craig Gordon's red card in last season's semi-final defeat to Inverness means that another key player is missing. Standing in will be Belgian Logan Bailly, the 30-year old has played just once since joining Celtic from Leuven in July, a 3-1 win at Tannadice in August. Celtic are huge favourites in this and every domestic game but they need to start playing like it to avoid tripping up at Stair Park.

Before Celtic kick-off on the shores of Loch Ryan, 90 miles up the A77 Rangers go into battle with another League One side, Cowdenbeath.

In four seasons spent outside the Premiership, Rangers have not won any of the national knockout tournaments - not even the Petrofac Cup. That is an utterly awful record. The way the club burst into life under their new manager this season, most felt that Rangers should perform well in the cups - fans even whispered about trying to win a (Championship) treble.

The air of invincibility was blown away by Premiership St Johnstone, who won 3-1 at Ibrox in the League Cup. And then Alan Stubbs' Hibernian overpowered and outplayed Rangers at Easter Road. Mark Warburton suddenly looked like a man who couldn't win big games.

He answered that criticism emphatically by beating Hibs with 10 men last month. Rangers need the money from a cup run, but in a social sense, their fans will believe that they deserve to see red, white and blue ribbons on the old trophy at Hampden by 5pm on May 21.

There is pressure on both halves of the Old Firm to lift the William Hill Scottish Cup, so Sunday will be worth watching.

I'm back on Monday at 6:15pm on Sky Sports News HQ to host the fifth-round draw. A lot can happen before then.

I'm delighted to see that Scotland international Robert Snodgrass returned to action after an awful injury suffered at the very beginning of last season. The Hull City midfielder is taking small steps at the moment but Gordon Strachan will keep watch on the man who was the Scotland national team's player of the season in 2013-14.

Snoddy scored in both of the victories against Croatia at the end of the qualification for Brazil and it's my belief that if he'd been fit for the Euro campaign, Scotland would have joined the rest of the home nations in France this summer. Scotland's qualifiers for Russia 2018 are live on Sky Sports and I hope Robert is back to his classy best long before Scotland open in the sunshine of Malta in September. I enjoyed having Robert alongside me as a thoughtful studio pundit but I'd much rather see him on the pitch.

It is a cruel coincidence that one of Snoddy's teammates from his formative years at Livingston, James McPake, suffered a similar injury in the New Year Dundee derby. The Dundee captain dislocated a kneecap and it was a dreadful sight to see him in so much pain.

It is a small mercy that scans have shown his knee ligaments remain intact but it will be a laborious recovery process. Since McPake arrived from Hibs, Paul Hartley has become an admirer of his leadership qualities and I won't be surprised to see the centre-back helping his manager with coaching duties once he is back on his feet.

As I was leaving Dens Park after another entertaining derby on Sky Sports, I was sorry to hear about the sad passing of Scottish Sun journalist Ronnie MacKay at the age of just 41. Ronnie did a fantastic job of covering all four SPFL divisions which gave great exposure to players and managers and their personalities. Scottish football will be worse off without Ronnie's skills.

I visited Fernando Ricksen to see how the former Rangers skipper is coping with Motor Neurone Disease. Fernando was first diagnosed with this terrible disease in October 2013 and given 15 months to live. It says it all about his fighting spirit that he is still jetting between the Netherlands, St Petersburg and Scotland. He has been invited by FIFA to be a guest at the Ballon d'Or next week.

The Sky Sports.com exclusive interview includes never before seen footage of the lovely welcome Ricksen received from supporters when he attended Celtic v Ajax. You can watch it here.

When I asked what his hopes are for 2016, Fernando, who turns 40 this summer, said: "To make it to the end of the year."

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