Clach forward John Cameron has backed Friday night football in the Highland League as he looks to face former club Forres Mechanics.
For the second home game in succession, the Lilywhites will play at Highland RFC’s Canal Park on a Friday night, while repairs to their Grant Street Park ground, which was damaged by fire in December, continue.
A total of 700 fans turned out to watch their 1-0 defeat to Fort William a fortnight ago and Cameron, who is battling to overcome an Achilles problem, would be in favour of it becoming a regular thing in the Highland League.
He said: “I was at the Fort William game and it was great. The whole setup there was good. In my opinion, Friday night football could be the way forward – potentially having one game on a Friday night every week.
“It would be good to have more of it. Someone made the point that if a lot of boys do other sports on a Saturday, they can do both. I would be a fan of it.”
The Merkinch club boosted their squad ahead of the game with the loan signing of Wayne MacKintosh, an ex-teammate of Cameron’s at Nairn.
Cameron, who has also turned out for Forres and Strathspey Thistle, joined Clach in November and scored in the win over Keith. However, he picked up an Achilles injury against Deveronvale at the turn of the year and hopes he can make a return in tonight’s game against his old side.
Cameron added: “It would be good to play against Forres – I still know a lot of boys there and get on well with them. They’ve got a lot of physical players and Stuart Soane is on form. He must be a nightmare to mark.
“We have had a lot of injuries recently and looking at the last few games, they’re potentially ones we could win. We need to try get as many points on the board as we can.”
Can Cans boss Charlie Rowley is also in favour of the Friday night fixture switch. Playing on the artificial surface should also suit his side, given they train at Kinloss twice a week.
He said: “Anything to reinvigorate the football side of things and improve attendances (is a good thing). If it proves to be positive I’d be happy to come back to it.
“Having to take time off work would be an issue, so the closer the venue the better it would be.”
Rowley has doubts over Simon Allan and Stuart Soane for the game, while Martin Groat, Ryan Farquhar, Aaron Hamilton and Callum Johnstone remain out. With the club out of the Highland League Cup, following last weekend’s defeat to Formartine, Rowley intends to shuffle his pack in the remaining league fixtures.
He added: “We’re building for next season. We’ll be getting younger ones some game-time and actively changing things up a wee bit between now and the end of the season.
“Martin Groat might be back in a couple of weeks, but Aaron, Callum and Ryan are highly unlikely to be back before the end of the season.”