Mark Nicolson believes Brora Rangers have what it takes to compete in the SPFL.
The Cattachs, who have opened up an 11-point gap at the top of the table, look set to become Highland League champions for the first time since 2015.
Winning the league would see player-boss Steven Mackay’s men face the Lowland League winners in the pyramind play-offs, with the winner of that tie meeting the bottom club in League 2 for a place in the SPFL next season.
Defender Nicolson played in the Scottish League with Elgin City for 10 years and reckons this Brora squad would be up to the challenge of competing in League 2.
He said: “I think the quality we’ve got in this team at the moment could hold their own in League 2.
“I think we could compete in the top half of that league. We have seen how well Cove Rangers have done this season and I definitely think we could compete at that level.
“In this group of boys we’ve a good mix of youth and experience and we’re keen to test ourselves at the highest level.
“There’s a long way to go and a lot of work to do to get into the league, but if we did the boys would enjoy testing themselves.”
Brora took a significant step towards winning the Highland League title with Saturday’s 2-1 win over Fraserburgh at Bellslea.
The Broch were realistically the last team that could challenge the Dudgeon Park outfit.
But the weekend defeat leaves them 20 points behind, although they do have four games in hand.
Nicolson and his team mates tackle Formartine United this Saturday, but he knows the importance of last weekend’s win.
He added: “It’s not over yet, but on Saturday we did take a huge step towards winning the league.
“We’ve still got plenty to do and a lot of hard games to play.
“But hopefully we can go on and win the next few games and wrap the league up as soon as possible.”
Nicolson felt the win at Fraserburgh showed Brora’s character as they came from behind before triumphing courtesy of Paul Brindle’s stoppage time strike.
He said: “It was a huge win for us even though we didn’t play well.
“Fraserburgh were the better team on the day but we found a way to get the result which we’re very happy about it.
“The boys showed huge character to come back from a goal down in the second half.
“A lot of teams might have let the heads go down and given up a bit.
“But there’s huge character in this team and we dug in. Once we got the penalty and equalised I think we were on top.
“Fraserburgh had to push on and try to win the game which gave us a chance to counter-attack and we had a few chances later on and we were delighted to win.”