Defender Jake Dolzanski reckons Elgin City have enough attacking qualities to cause a Scottish Cup upset at Championship high-fliers Ayr United.
The centre-half, who joined League Two City from Jeanfield Swifts last summer, is enjoying his time at Borough Briggs, having made 29 appearances all in.
His first game of the campaign actually came against Ayr in the League Cup back in July when they held the Honest Men to a 0-0 group stage draw before United won 4-3 on penalties for a bonus point reward.
Dolzanski, 24, suffered an injury and was replaced by Darryl McHardy in the 33rd minute, but that moment was a sore one for Elgin as it turned out experienced defender-turned-midfielder McHardy should have been suspended, and Elgin were hit with a 3-0 loss as a punishment.
SCOTTISH CUP
Tickets are now on sale for our Scottish Cup match against Ayr United.
They should be purchased online and are available here: https://t.co/tvUo8MBhzb
It's advised you purchase your ticket ahead of matchday on Saturday February 11.
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— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) February 5, 2023
Elgin believe upset could be on cards
Dolzanski explained how big a chance this is for Elgin to show what they’re capable of at Somerset Park when the sides meet in the fifth round of the national trophy.
He said: “It would be massive for Elgin if we were to get through. Who knows if the boys will ever get an opportunity like this again.
“It will be tough and Ayr will be favourites, but we do believe we can go there and get a result.
“This game suits us to go and hit Ayr on the break. We’ve got the players who can make an impact.
“These are the games and stages you want to play in.
“Ayr are flying near the top of the Championship, so we are under no illusions about how hard this will be.
“We played Ayr at the start of the season, so we won’t take too much from that, although we can at least take a bit of confidence from drawing the game, so why not again?
“Everybody is buzzing. To have the opportunity to get into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup doesn’t come around too often, so we can’t wait for it.
“We will go there with a game-plan and we aim to stick to that for as long as possible.”
Ayr was reward after three cup wins – and change of focus will be good for City
Elgin have got through against non-SPFL opponents in every round of the Scottish Cup so far, beating Camelon Juniors 4-0, Hill of Beath Hawthorn 2-1 and Drumchapel United 2-1.
Dolzanski admits they still were tricky ties to negotiate in order to line up this crack at Ayr.
He said: “When you come up against a lower-league team, it’s their cup final, so it’s never easy.
“Some of those games were also played in tricky conditions, weather-wise, so we were delighted to get through.”
Elgin have slipped from third to fifth position in League Two in recent weeks, but are just one point below Forfar before they return to league business against Stranraer next week.
Dolzanski believes the break from the weekly toil of chasing points comes at a good time for the Black and Whites.
He added: “We’ve been a bit stop-start since the start of the year.
“We’ve not shown much consistency at all, so it will be good to get a break from the league this weekend to focus on the Scottish Cup.”
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