Lossiemouth and champions Brora Rangers get their Highland League campaign under way at Grant Park tonight, with the Cattachs’ new player-manager Richard Brittain looking for his first win in management.
Brora lost out to local rivals Wick Academy in a penalty shootout in the North Cup last Wednesday and on Saturday they went out of the Petrofac Training Cup when they lost 1-0 at home to Alloa Athletic.
Brittain said: “Our aim is to get that first win in the opening game of the season. The boys are excited about the occasion. We know that it will be a difficult game. We have performed well in the last two games and were unlucky not to win them, so we do have a lot of confidence in the squad just now.
“You need a wee bit of a rub of the green in games and against both Wick and Alloa we didn’t get that. We can’t dwell on that, we need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and get ready to go again. That’s exactly what we will do.”
On his new role as a manager, Brittain added: “It has been fantastic and everything I expected it to be. I am very excited by the challenge ahead. I am disappointed we haven’t been able to win the first two games but we can change all that tomorrow night.”
Brora are at full strength, apart from Orkney-based forward, John Pickles who has an ankle injury, Lossie manager Charlie Charlesworth, said he has many squad injuries.
He said: “Our goalkeeper Darren McConnachie isn’t there yet, Andrew Stewart is out long term with a knee injury. Shawn Scott has a knee problem, Ryan Green has a pulled hamstring. New signing Ewen Mellis has a groin strain, Greig Watson has a long-term knee injury, while Scott Miller and defender Bryan Bell face fitness tests on Achilles and hip injuries respectively. On a positive note, young centre half Scott Campbell has been added to the squad.
“It is a really tough one to start with. It is a huge task. We have shown we have a lot of possibilities going forward but we still have one or two areas of concern at the back, so I will sleep on it tonight and see where we go from there.”