McBride banned for Dundee
Championship Dundee are without Kevin McBride when they take on Premiership leaders Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Dens Park.
McBride is suspended after being dismissed against Forfar in the last round.
Ankle injuries continue to keep Jamie Reid and Leighton MacIntosh out and there is a doubt over Nicky Riley, who picked up a knock in Saturday's disappointing 3-1 defeat at Falkirk.
Assistant manager Ray Farningham said: "This is a big game against a team that have had a pretty decent start to the season.
"Inverness are a strong side who also play a lot of decent football so we need to be on the top of our game."
Inverness manager Terry Butcher is happy to be on the road again as he begins his drive to lead Caley Thistle to the League Cup final.
The Highland side face Dundee at Dens Park in their opening match of the competition, of which they reached the semi-finals last season.
Inverness did not play at home during last season's run and even the semi-final saw them concede home advantage when they lost on penalties to Hearts in Edinburgh, at Hibernian's Easter Road.
The Scottish Premiership leaders are fresh from two away games in the league, the second of which saw them lose their unbeaten record in a 1-0 defeat against Aberdeen.
Butcher said: "We have fallen off the bar stool and we want to get back on it pretty quick and we are delighted this game is coming round to give the boys a chance to get rid of Saturday, but more importantly to make progress in the cup.
"We are on the road again but we did it on the road last year and got to the semi-final, and should have got to the final but didn't.
"That still hurts, with the boys who were here last year especially."
The former England captain added: "I'm sure they will give it a go and make it hard for us but we expect that. Last season we had to go to Arbroath, Stenhousemuir and Rangers and win to make progress.
"So we are pretty much used to away nights in the League Cup.
"We enjoyed it last year, we enjoyed it very much. We want more of the same. For the newcomers as well, it will hopefully be part of a good cup run, but for the ones who missed out last year, we want to go one better and go all the way this time."
Source: PA
