Ally Macdonald believes Brora Rangers’ Premier Sports Cup meeting with Forfar Athletic will be a good gauge for the Cattachs of what’s required to play in the SPFL.
The Sutherland side tackle the Loons at Dudgeon Park on Saturday in the third of their League Cup Group C ties.
Brora have made no secret of their ambitions to try to gain promotion to the SPFL.
Last season they were defeated by Lowland League champions Kelty Hearts in the play-offs, but this term Steven Mackay’s men are hoping to earn another crack at promotion.
Having lost 4-0 to Premiership Dundee on Tuesday night, Brora will again face top-flight opposition next Tuesday in Ross County.
As a result, Macdonald believes facing League Two Forfar will be a different test.
The defender said: “I think we can expect to have a bit more possession against Forfar and have a bit more of a go against them.
“That’s no disrespect to them, but we’ve played League One and League Two teams before and it is a lot closer.
“We’ll look to progress from Tuesday and try to get something out of the game.
“Then the Ross County game will be very much similar to Dundee, but hopefully we’ll have a few more bodies back that will help out.
“I think it’s a good gauge playing League One or Two sides. It’s definitely the ambition of the club and the players to try to go higher.
“We’re getting the chance to test ourselves against that sort of competition and we know where we need to get to.”
All hands to the pump for Brora
At Dens Park earlier this week, Macdonald was deployed on the left side of midfield, rather than his usual left-back role.
For the Dundee clash, and last Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Montrose, Brora had only 14 players available.
Macdonald added: “We’re a bit low on numbers, so it’s been all hands on deck and making do with the players we’ve got.
“I’m happy to play anywhere – I enjoy playing further forward, it’s a good test for me.
“As long as I’m needed I’ll play there. It’s a different position for me, because I’m used to having the game in front of me at left-back, but I enjoyed playing further forward.”
Cattachs stuck to their task at Dens Park
With a depleted squad and having not been able to play any pre-season friendlies because of Covid-19 issues, a meeting with newly-promoted Dundee was always going to be a tough assignment for Brora.
That turned out to be the case with Paul McMullan’s brace and goals from Paul McGowan and Alex Jakubiak securing the points for the Dens Park outfit.
But Macdonald felt there were some positives for Brora to take.
He said: “We knew it would be a difficult game, they have stepped up a level since we played them last year and we’re short of bodies as well.
“We expected to have long periods without the ball and that’s what happened.
“But I think we did all right, we got what we needed, which was a good bit of fitness and we showed some positive stuff at times when we did get the ball.
“We didn’t just pump it long when we had the ball. We had a good shape about as well.
“With the two early goals in the second half, we didn’t know how it was going to go, but the boys showed a bit of resilience and stuck to the task.”