Formartine United will try to bounce back swiftly from the disappointment of losing 2-1 to Cove Rangers in the League Cup final on Saturday when they head to Speyside tonight to take on an improved Rothes.
United forward Conor Gethins said: “We want to kick on at Rothes. Saturday’s game at home to Buckie will take care of itself.
“Saturday’s defeat is still hard to take, but we can’t win them all. We did have chances to win, both myself in the first half and Graeme Rodger after the break would usually have scored from the positions we were in. It was just one of those days.
“The game at Rothes is going to be difficult, Cove only beat them 1-0 a few weeks ago and they then won at Fort William and earned 1-1 draws at Wick then Forres on Saturday.
“Their manager Steven MacDonald and his assistant Grant Munro have got them really well organised and they have brought in some good players who have strengthened them and given them added pace. We can’t afford to take them lightly, like we may have done with the Rothes of the last two or three years.”
Munro, said: “Formartine manager Kris Hunter sounded a bit disheartened after the final defeat to Cove Rangers, it is understandable as losing a last-minute goal was a real sickener for him and his side, when he was probably already preparing for extra time.
“After a couple of days thinking about it he’ll be back to rally his players so we are expecting them to be very motivated at Mackessack Park. They will want to finish their season on a high.
“We are in exactly the same position, we also want to finish the season on a high note, although we are now running out of games.
“The players have done great in recent weeks, they have been fantastic with the demands we have put on them.”