Fraserburgh boss Mark Cowie has challenged his side to use the remaining seven games of the Breedon Highland League season to show the Broch can be title contenders again next season.
The reigning champions’ defence has petered out in recent weeks with the club dropping to fifth in the table but Cowie hopes his side can regain some momentum for a fresh tilt at the title next season.
He said: “We’ve lost six players from the squad which won the title last season and I think if you were to take that number out of any championship-winning team it would have an impact.
“We’re a club in transition at the moment and we’re looking to bed in the new guys who have come in for next season.
“We’re also having a look at our options for the summer and trying to push a few of the younger ones coming through to get them up to speed.”
‘Draws have killed us’
The Broch have won the Aberdeenshire Cup and Aberdeenshire Shield this season but Cowie still has a feeling of what might have been in terms of the league campaign.
He said: “I’m not going to lie, we’ve had some disappointing moments. We wanted to be up there but we know we’ve shot ourselves in the foot at key times.
“Draws have killed us rather than defeats and I can go back and look at games where we’ve missed penalties or had silly sending offs.”
Cowie targeting strong finish to the season
The title is beyond Fraserburgh as the campaign ends the home stretch but Cowie knows the Broch can still play a significant role in the destination of the championship as they face two games against title contenders Brechin City in the next few weeks.
The Broch boss knows City will be formidable opponents but is looking no further than tonight’s visit of Lossiemouth to Bellslea Park.
‘Toughest games of the season’
He said: “We didn’t want to give up our title without a fight and even if the league hasn’t panned out as we had hoped we’ve got seven games left and we want to finish the season well as we look to next year.
“There will be a lot of people following the green and white team in the title race wanting us to do them a favour.
“But we know no matter what stage of the season it is that Brechin are a very difficult side to play against and our two games against will be two of our toughest games of the season.
“I think the top three is maybe beyond us as Formartine United are finishing the season really strongly but we still want to put on a show and finish the season as strongly as we can, starting with our game against Lossiemouth.”
The Broch are at full strength for the visit of the Coasters who have placed midfielder Darren Brew on the transfer list.
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