Motherwell manager Stuart McCall knows every penny counts in cup showdown with Aberdeen "I'm quite optimistic," he said. I don't like talking about myself. I'm not one for worrying about it. The club have intimated they want to keep me and I've intimated that I enjoy my work and would like to stay. We haven't even got down to figures or anything. I'm sure it will be done soon. Inside the transfer window, something will have been done by then, I would imagine. McCall is less confident about holding on to his stars, however, to the extent that he and his staff are already scouting their replacements. "We're looking already and identifying people for positions," he said. You're not doing your job correctly if you're not doing that now. That will always go on and you've got to be ready to bring players in. We can look at the list of players who are out of contract and start to tick them off in the next month: the ones who are leaving, the wait-and-sees and those who want to negotiate now. I'm sure come early January we'll get a few [indications]. Nobody's knocked a contract back. Even so, McCall's patience is not infinite and, like any other manager in his position, he must make contingency plans. As a result, the cut-off point for accepting new deals will come at the end of next month, after which there will be no guarantees that the offers remain on the table. "That could possibly be the case, without blackmailing them," he said. I can see it from a player's point of view as well, but it's sometimes for [a manager] to make the decision. There are examples of people leaving here and not always progressing how they would like. There are no guarantees and every individual is different. It depends what's on offer and what club you're going to. Going to the Championship is a no-brainer for me, with the crowds they get. League One is probably better financially but if you're going to clubs that get 2,500 to 3,000 is it any better than playing in the Scottish Premier? It can be a backwards or sidewards step going there. When we lost John Sutton, Higdon came in and matched his goals. Law and Henrik Ojaama have done well . It's tougher to bring in the same quality of replacement because the money isn't going to be the same. We've been fortunate to have so many good players at the club, some of whom I inherited. My budget for next season has been set but a cup run or a sale could help with that, and a cup run would help immensely. No pressure there then ... Cowdenbeath try again Cowdenbeath have planned a pitch inspection for Tuesday afternoon ahead of their rearranged William Hill Scottish Cup clash against St Johnstone on Wednesday. The match was due to be played on Monday night, but was postponed for the third time because of a frozen pitch and rescheduled for Wednesday night. But there is already doubt about the latest date with a 2.30pm pitch inspection pencilled in at Central Park on Tuesday. The Division One club had appealed for volunteers to help remove ice from the pitch and terracings. Dumbarton's home tie against Hamilton was also postponed on Monday with a pitch inspection planned on Tuesday ahead of a rearranged date on Wednesday.