Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Buckie Thistle’s Jack Murray ready for battle with Celtic’s Kyogo

The Breedon Highland League side face Celtic in the Scottish Cup this weekend.

Jack Murray is looking forward to Buckie Thistle's clash with Celtic.
Jack Murray is looking forward to Buckie Thistle's clash with Celtic.

A Kyogo Furuhashi goal last month left Jack Murray feeling blue – but the Buckie Thistle defender is relishing trying to shackle the Celtic marksman.

The Jags head to Parkhead on Sunday for their Scottish Cup fourth round tie against the Hoops.

Murray is a Rangers supporter and was left gutted by Furuhashi’s goal in the last Old Firm derby on December 30 as Celtic won 2-1.

The 23-year-old said: “This tie is a great thing for Buckie and it will be a great occasion for us all.

“I saw Kyogo’s quality a couple of weeks ago against Rangers – I was spewing about that goal, but I’ll see how I get on against him.

“You want to play against these good players in your career and test yourself against the best you possibly can.”

Stopper can chip in goals, too

Although Murray’s main job is to try to keep out goals, he has become a prolific scorer for Buckie.

Having netted 12 goals already this term, he’s the highest-scoring defender in north football.

When asked about his scoring record and the prospect of adding to it against Celtic, Murray said: “A few of them have been penalties, which maybe bumps it up a bit. But you’ve still got to score them.

“I feel confident going into every game that I can get a chance and a goal.

Jack Murray, right, has scored 12 goals this season.

“I don’t know if we’ll get many chances against Celtic – I’ll be busier trying to keep them out – but it would definitely be a dream of mine to score there.

“I think it is something that’s in my game where I can chip in with a few goals, headers and things like that.

“I’ve scored a few long-rangers in my time as well, but I still feel like I can add more with some of the chances I miss.”

Buckie’s chance to shine on big stage

Murray is one of a number of players in the Buckie squad who joined the Jags after coming out of full-time football.

He was released by Ross County in the summer of 2020, but feels he has improved as a player since and hopes to show it against the Premiership champions and cup holders.

He said: “It was a trick period during Covid and hard for clubs, and they let players go.

“But looking back now, I think at that time I wasn’t good enough – I feel I’ve improved as a player since.

“There is quality in our squad and some of the boys do have ambitions of playing at a higher level, and I think some of us are capable of it.

“It’s all about getting a chance and being lucky as well, because if you’re in the right place at the right time, you never know who’s watching.”

Conversation