Brora Rangers manager Craig Campbell sees tonight’s Highland League Cup tie against Fort William as an opportunity to put their Scottish Cup frustration behind them.
The Cattachs were defeated 1-0 by Albion Rovers in Saturday’s second round replay at Cliftonhill, despite the League Two outfit being reduced to 10 men.
With the two sides having shared a goalless draw in the initial match at Dudgeon Park, Campbell considers the tie a missed opportunity.
The Brora boss has urged his players to make the most of the quick opportunity to regain momentum.
He said: “Over the two games it was hugely frustrating from my point of view. I don’t think we played to the levels that we know we can play.
“Albeit in not reaching those levels, we were still well within the game.
“There is a bit of frustration, so it’s good to get a game so quickly to try and bounce back with a positive result.
“It’s about what we do, and if we can get up to the levels that we expect of the boys as a management team, there’s no reason why we can’t put on a good performance.”
Brora are strong favourites for tonight’s tie, having run out 8-0 winners when they last faced Fort on league duty in August.
The Sutherland outfit are 13 points adrift of Highland League leaders Fraserburgh with two games in hand, while they fell to a North of Scotland Cup defeat against Rothes earlier in the season.
Campbell says the Highland League Cup provides his side with another opportunity to claim silverware this term, adding: “Every competition we go into we target to try and get as far as we can. We want to win the ones we should be winning at our level.
“It’s a good chance to bounce back. We have not been conceding a lot of goals, but we have also not been scoring in the last couple of games.
“Hopefully we can get back to scoring a few goals and getting back to winning ways.”
Brora will be without injured pair Martin MacLean and James Wallace.
Fort coach Tommylee Taylor is eager to produce a strong showing to boost the Lochaber side’s confidence ahead of Saturday’s crucial league match against Keith.
Taylor said: “We have made a few changes because we have got Keith at the weekend, which is a more important game.
“The league is the priority this season, but this is a good chance to come up against a quality opposition.
“There have been a lot of positives, especially going forward. We have not been struggling to score goals, it’s more out of possession we have been giving away sloppy goals and not tracking midfield runners.
“It’s just trying to cut out the silly mistakes from the last few weeks.”
Fort William have confirmed they will play their first fixture at their Claggan Park home this season when they welcome local amateur side South Lochaber Thistle for a friendly on December 1.
We are delighted to announce that football will be returning to Claggan Park on Wednesday 1st December as we welcome our local neighbours South Lochaber Thistle AFC to Claggan Park in a mid-season friendly. Kickoff time and prices at gate TBC.
— Fort William FC (@FortWilliamFC) October 30, 2021
Fort were instructed by the Highland League management committee to play all fixtures away from home this term, after their pitch was deemed unplayable at the start of the campaign.