Formartine United player-manager Paul Lawson says his players know only too well the threat posed by Fraserburgh forward Scott Barbour.
Lawson’s side welcome back experienced midfielder Stuart Anderson after suspension for this afternoon’s mouth-watering North Lodge encounter against fellow title challengers Fraserburgh.
Lawson is looking forward to what has all the makings of a thrilling match between two of the title contenders.
Lawson said: “It’s a game we’re all looking to. Before a ball is kicked I’m sure both teams will believe that they’ll be up there challenging for honours at the top of the league and that makes for an exciting encounter.
“I’m sure Fraserburgh forward Scott Barbour will be looking forward to coming back to his former club.
“We will need to be wary of his strengths, I noticed he was on the scoresheet against Wick Academy last week and he will be keen to add to that.
“Fraserburgh are the type of team who could cause us problems so we will need to make sure we are at our best.”
The Pitmedden side began the season with an impressive 5-0 win at Keith.
Former Celtic, Motherwell and Ross County midfielder Lawson added: “I was really pleased with the result as well as the level of performances of the new boys who came into the side as they were excellent.
“We knew that we needed to improve on last year’s performances but we’ve started well and we’ll look to keep that going.
“We can’t wait for our first home game of the season.
“The pitch is looking immaculate so hopefully it will make for a good game of football.”
Fraserburgh assistant-manager James Duthie is also relishing the prospect of facing one of the top teams in the league.
He said: “Whatever happens isn’t really going to have a huge bearing on what happens at the end of the season as there’s an awful long way to go.
“We don’t have a particularly good record at North Lodge Park but we’re looking forward to going there.
“Our pre-season results have been good but unfortunately we have picked up quite a few injuries along the way.
“We had an excellent 5-0 opening day home win against a Wick Academy side which beat us twice last term. That was a tremendous result given the number of bodies we had missing.
“We knew it was going to be a tough opener but the players were absolutely outstanding and it was a great result for us.
“I’ve no doubt that Scott Barbour will thoroughly enjoy his first visit back to North Lodge since he left to join us.”