Strathspey Thistle boss Ryan Esson believes Breedon Highland League midweek fixtures should be moved from Wednesday to Tuesday nights.
The Jags take on Rothes this afternoon in a crunch clash between the league’s bottom two teams.
Esson’s side drew 1-1 with Huntly on Wednesday night, but the former Caley Thistle goalkeeper reckons the recent hectic fixture list would be kinder on players of all teams if midweek games were on Tuesdays.
He said: “That was our ninth game in four-and-a-half weeks. We’ll have played 12 games in six weeks by the end of March and 15 in eight weeks by the end of the season.
“That would be a lot of football for full-time players, let alone part-time players.
“I don’t understand why the games are on a Wednesday.
“Why don’t the Highland League play on a Tuesday?
“When the fixture list is congested, it is all about recovery.
“If you play on a Saturday at 3pm then most players will get to sleep at a good time and get to sleep in for maybe two or three extra hours on a Sunday morning as the majority of them won’t be working.
“But if they are playing on a Wednesday night, they won’t be getting to sleep until late and then they will be getting up early for their work on the Thursday.
“If you are playing on the Tuesday, the player would still need to get up for his work on a Wednesday, but he would have that additional day to recover before the Saturday game.
“It is a lot easier to recover after a Saturday game because of the early kick-off and the likely day off from work to take it easy on a Sunday.
“Playing the games on a Tuesday makes far more sense to me, so I would love to know the reasoning behind playing the midweek games on a Wednesday.”
Heading into crunch match in form
The team who finish bottom of the Highland League could face a relegation play-off come the end of the season.
Esson said: “The players aren’t stupid – they know what is at stake.
“We know the importance of it, but we approach every game the same way.
“We know what we are capable of.
“Against Huntly on Wednesday, it was probably our best defensive performance as a whole unit.
“We nullified them and they came into the match in good form on the back of scoring five goals against Forres and seven against Keith.
“They have probably the best striker in the league (in Angus Grant), who came off injured, which did us a favour.
“The boys really put a shift in and that is the standard we look for.
“We are looking forward to the game on Saturday.
“It is a game that means something.”
Full focus on Saturday afternoon
Rothes are level on points with Strathspey, but sit bottom of the table on goal difference, having played one game more than the Jags.
Only Golspie Sutherland, Lochee United and Tayport possess the relevant licences to be able to play in a pyramid play-off against the team who finish bottom of the Highland League.
To do so they would need to win their league, but Golspie Sutherland are already out of the running to win the North Caledonian League, while Lochee United and Tayport sit third and fourth respectively in the Midlands League heading into the closing stretch.
Boss Ronnie Sharp says his full focus is on this weekend’s game rather than the potential scenarios for the team who end up bottom.
“That doesn’t enter our thoughts at all,” he said.
“I know they are looking to restructure the league and that could be done in a few weeks.
“So we haven’t thought about the potential of a play-off.
“This game will be like every week – both teams will want to win.”
It was announced prior to Rothes’ 0-0 draw with Lossiemouth on Wednesday that Sharp and his assistant Michael Rae had signed new deals to remain with the club until May 2027.
Sharp said: “I’m enjoying it, it has been really good.
“The chairman (Iain Paul) has been great to work for, so that was why we signed on for the two years.
“Now we can look to build for next season and look to move up the league.
“The main priority is rebuilding the squad.
“We’ve got a lot of good youngsters with potential and fulfilling that potential is key.
“We don’t have enough experienced players – I think we have no players in the 23-30 age group.
“We have a couple over 30, but we need to get some experience in to help the younger ones.”
Tense at the top for Brechin and Brora
It is another important weekend in the race for the Breedon Highland League title with Brechin City looking to bounce back after they slipped up on Wednesday night.
The Glebe Park side looked to have taken control in the battle for the championship with a 2-0 win at Brora last weekend… only to go down 1-0 against Inverurie Locos midweek.
That allowed Brora to regain top spot thanks to their 5-0 victory at Keith, leaving them top of the table on goal difference with five games to go.
Brechin welcome Forres Mechanics to Glebe Park, and they will be eager to avoid a repeat of October’s meeting between the sides when the Mosset Park men ran out 3-2 winners.
Forres boss Steven MacDonald would love to do the double over the title challengers, but expects a stern test against Ray McKinnon’s side.
He said: “Brechin are a quality team and if you don’t treat them the right way then you know you’re going to have a hard afternoon.
“When we won in October, we got a bit of luck on the day, which you need against them.
“They were in control of the game possession-wise, but we got the breaks and then a bit of magic at the end of the game to win it.
“These are the things you need to beat the big teams – you need things to go right for you on the day.”
Forres sit 10th in the table on 39 points – five points above 11th-place Turriff.
MacDonald is encouraged by this season’s progress after the Cans finished 14th on 30 points last season.
He said: “I’m very pleased with the way the boys have progressed.
“You can definitely see the positive signs and we’ve already got a lot more points than last season.
“We’ve had some good results against some of the bigger teams, but it’s perhaps some of the other games that you’re looking to win where we haven’t quite done enough.
“That is something to work on, but I’ve got to be pleased with the way they are progressing and learning because it is still a young squad.
“It is such a tough league. The Highland League is quite unique for the ups and downs – you saw that with Huntly drawing at Strathspey and Brechin getting beat on Wednesday night.
“It’s unpredictable, isn’t it?”
Clach will be without Joe Malin, Scott Davidson and Jack Mackay as they look to bounce back following last weekend’s late 2-1 loss at Turriff United when they host top-of-the-table Brora.
The Lilywhites were 2-1 winners in the reverse fixture at Dudgeon Park in December.
Brora have a full squad available, apart from Jordan MacRae, who is recovering from a shoulder operation.
Scorries finishing with a flourish
Wick Academy boss Gary Manson is pleased to see his side finishing the season strongly once again.
The Scorries head to Keith today looking to stretch their unbeaten run to five matches following home wins against Forres, Turriff and Lossiemouth as well as a 2-2 draw at Formartine United.
Manson said: “We’ve got four games left and we’re looking to carry on that momentum and finish the season as strong as we can.
“On Saturday, we’ll be trying to carry that on and get the three points.
“We went through a spell of playing all the top teams and confidence and momentum can work both ways.
“When you lose two or three in a row, it can be hard to break that cycle.
“But when you’re playing teams around you in the league and you pick up a couple of wins, it’s a lot easier to keep the momentum going.
“Even when we were on a reasonably bad run, I was never worried about finishing near the bottom – it was more a case of when the form will turn, rather than if it will turn.
“I’m just pleased that we’re on a good run and finishing the season strongly.”
Manson admits there are similarities between this season and last season for the Harmsworth Park side.
He said: “It is quite strange how much this season has mirrored last season.
“At the halfway stage last season, we were quite low on points, but then we picked up around 25 points in the second half of the season.
“We are on course to mirror that, which is something I need to have a look at in a bit more depth and see if there’s any reason for it.
“But the teams at the bottom have upped their game and there is not an awful lot between the top teams and the bottom teams on any given day.
“It is just the top teams are a lot more consistent and that may be down to stronger squads and more depth.”
Keith will be without first-choice goalkeeper Craig Reid once again with a shoulder injury ruling out the Maroons stopper for the rest of the season.
Nineteen-year-old Connor MacLeod was in goals for Keith’s 5-0 loss against Brora.
Manson said: “Craig Reid is a good goalkeeper – any team would miss him.
“Keith beat us 1-0 at Wick, which was a really disappointing result.
“I watched the game back during the week and we did absolutely everything apart from putting the ball in the back of the net.
“We’ll go down there and there’s a high chance it’ll be a fiery pitch.
“It might not be a classic, but it’ll more or less be 50-50 in terms of chances.
“We’ll just need to make sure we come out on top. We’ll be doing everything we can to keep the momentum going.”
Along with goalkeeper Reid, Keith will be without Calum Robertson, James Brownie, Craig Gill, Murray Addison and Ryan Robertson.
Captain misses out for Banks o’ Dee
Elsewhere, Banks o’ Dee captain Kane Winton is suspended for the visit of Turriff United to Spain Park, while Mark Reynolds and Jevan Anderson are both out.
Turra welcome back Owen Kinsella and Reece McKeown, but Callan Gray, Murray Cormack, Liam Strachan, Andy Watt, Ewen Robertson, Lee Herbert, James Chalmers and Keir Smith are all out.
Buckie Thistle have a full squad available for the visit of Formartine United to Victoria Park as they look to extend their unbeaten league run to nine games.
Inverurie Locos will bid to make it 10 wins on the spin when they host Fraserburgh at Harlaw Park.
Locos will be without Greg Mitchell, Sam Burnett and Anton Chauvin, while the Broch could again be without Aidan Sopel and Liam Strachan.
Lossiemouth boss Steve Porter has a selection headache ahead of the visit of Deverovale. Ross Paterson, Matthew Nicol, Owen Paterson and Connor Macaulay are all out, while Lewis McAndrew faces a late fitness test.
Vale player-boss Garry Wood is back available and Jay Goldie is also in contention to feature after missing Wednesday’s 6-1 loss against Buckie Thistle.
Wayne Mackintosh and Kenny McKenzie are back for Nairn’s home match against Huntly, but Millar Gamble, Sam Gordon, Ali Morrison, Kenny McInness, Alan Pollock and Jamie Carnihan miss out.
Huntly will be without top scorer Angus Grant after he picked up an injury in the midweek draw at Strathspey.
Michael Clark, James Connolly and Ruari Fraser are also out, but Zander Jack, Ryan Sewell and Adam Morris return for the Black and Golds.
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