Russell Dingwall says Elgin City will aim to thrive as underdogs when they face Cove Rangers or Ayr United in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup.
The Black and Whites booked their place in the fifth round, after overcoming Drumchapel United with a 2-1 victory in their rescheduled tie at Borough Briggs on Tuesday.
Elgin will discover their opponents when Cove and Ayr meet at Balmoral Stadium on Tuesday, with the next round taking place on the weekend of February 11.
Although Elgin will be away from home, midfielder Dingwall insists Gavin Price’s men will approach the tie with no fear.
Dingwall said: “It was a big game for the club against Drumchapel. It was a shame it got cancelled on Saturday as it would have been a nice occasion.
“It’s always special to get through. We’ve now got a game against either Ayr or Cove to look forward to.
“We will plan for that, and hopefully we can progress in that too.
“We are obviously going to go in as massive underdogs against a Championship side.
“If we go there with our gameplan to hopefully frustrate them and make it difficult, you never know what can happen.”
Elgin overcame sticky start against Drumchapel
West of Scotland First Division side Drumchapel made life difficult for Elgin after taking the lead through Dominic McLaren, however City responded strongly to triumph through goals from Dylan Lawrence and Kane Hester.
Former Ross County player Dingwall was pleased his side’s quality shone through.
He added: “We knew it was going to be tough. The pitch was always going to make it a leveller for them, we knew they were going to come with high energy but we started the game flat, and they obviously scored.
A winner from this season's Men's Scottish Cup top scorer so far, Kane Hester, completed @ElginCityFC's comeback in a 2-1 win over @DrumchapelUWOS.
Elgin City will face @CoveRangersFC or @AyrUnitedFC in the Fifth Round.#ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/nval7Ln4en
— Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) January 24, 2023
“We had to show a bit of character, we changed our formation and we were the better team from them on.
“After we got the goal back through a good finish from Dylan, we then had another one disallowed right on half-time which I thought was soft.
“We came out again in the second half and I thought we were dominant in the game from then on.
“We knew they would work hard and do the dirty part of the game. It was up to us to show a bit of quality pass it through them.
“I think we did that, without taking our chances to bury the game. On another day we could have scored three or four.”
City back to league business at Stenhousemuir
Elgin return to League Two action over the next fortnight, with Saturday’s trip to Stenhousemuir followed by a home game against Albion Rovers before they switch focus back to the cup.
Dingwall hopes progressing in the cup can be the catalyst for a return to winning ways in the league, with City sitting third in the table at present.
The 25-year-old said: “We have not been great at home recently, so hopefully we can take the win into the league.
“We go away to Stenhousemuir on Saturday, so hopefully we can get the three points.
“It’s always tight when we play against Stenny but we have done well against them this season.
“Hopefully we can go down there with confidence and get the result.”
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