Fraserburgh’s Ryan Cowie is determined to show they can compete with sides from a higher level when they face Cowdenbeath in the SPFL Trust Trophy.
The Broch take on the Blue Brazil at Bellslea (7.30pm kick-off) in the first round of the competition formerly known as the Challenge Cup.
The top four from last season’s abridged Breedon Highland League campaign have gained entry into the tournament.
Although some observers may view the SPFL Trust Trophy as something of a free hit for the Highland League sides, that’s not how Cowie and Fraserburgh are thinking.
The defender said: “We’ll be treating it like we would treat a league game I think.
“We want to prove we can compete at that level. There were boys in the team that felt after our Scottish Cup tie with Montrose we could compete with teams like that.
“This tie is another opportunity for us to prove that.
“There might be some rotation and changes from Saturday, but the players that come in will put a shift in and give a good account of ourselves.
“If we do that hopefully it gets us into the next round – we like to try to progress in the cups.”
Broch’s form is strong
Fraserburgh are in good form ahead of their meeting with Cowdenbeath.
On Saturday the Broch came from 2-0 down to defeat Highland League champions Brora Rangers 6-2 at Bellslea.
That made it three wins out of three in the league and already this term they have also won the 2020-21 Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup.
Cowie added: “It was a bad start we made against Brora. It’s not the first time it’s happened this season.
“We did it against Keith and Formartine in the Aberdeenshire Cup, so I don’t know what it is about starting games.
“But we seem to battle and manage to come back from losing positions.
“We could easily have folded at 2-0 down against the league champions, but we didn’t.
“It keeps the momentum going for us, you want to win games and enjoy it as a team.
“It’s good to go into the midweek games on the back of a win at the weekend.
“It’s a long season and this is only August, so we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.
“But in every game, if we play to our strengths, then we know we’ll cause teams problems.
“I think we saw that on Saturday and even on our bench there is a lot of quality, so – even if games are tight – we can bring players on and they’ll make a difference.”