Elgin City defender Darryl McHardy wants to go toe-to-toe with his Caley Jags pal Shane Sutherland in the SPFL Trust Trophy this weekend.
Sutherland, who has joined Elgin three times, returned to his first club ICT last year, and could well spearhead the attack for the Championship pace-setters in Saturday’s third round contest.
McHardy, who has spent more than a decade at his home town club, would love nothing better than to score a win over ICT in this clash.
One goal between sides last time
And to take on his former Elgin team-mate Sutherland in the first competitive game between these teams since ICT won 2-1 in the Scottish Cup in 2016/17 is whetting the appetite of McHardy, who played in that tie.
He said: “I remember that game. I was centre-half and we went 1-0 up through a Mark Nicolson free-kick.
“We have improved a lot since then. I’d image there will be a crowd of more than 1,000, so it will be good to play in front of those kind of numbers. You don’t get that chance very often.
INVERNESS CT
Not Long to go until our Cup clash vs Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC in the SPFL Trust Trophy ⚽
Information on how to purchase tickets can be seen in the below video 🤍 pic.twitter.com/HzpkqGqtFD
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) October 4, 2021
“I hope we can cause an upset. All my friends are going, they’ve been talking about it in the group chat. There is a real buzz about this one.
“I’m also best friends with Shane Sutherland, who hopes to play on Saturday. He used to work with me when we played at Elgin. He was a labourer with me and my dad, probably for a couple of years
“I’m looking forward to playing against him if I can. Shane was probably the best player I have played with at Elgin.
“It will be good for me to test myself. We’ve been at each other all week, so hopefully Shane will be fit enough to play.”
McHardy offers bite in attack
City are seventh in League Two after an indifferent start to the season, but 26-year-old McHardy hopes he can help the team up the top end of the pitch, too, with Kane Hester sidelined with a hamstring injury.
He added: “We’ve not started so well in the league, but we have a good strong team and big squad. I’m pretty sure everyone is available apart from Kane.
“I think I have scored 46 goals in what was my 258th game for Elgin a couple of weeks ago (in a 2-1 win at Stenhousemuir).
“Myself and Kane are the joint top scorers (in the league) with three goals, so it would be some buzz to score against Caley Thistle in front of our own fans – especially if it’s the winner.”
Elgin, who lost 2-0 at home to Stirling Albion in the league last weekend, were 6-2 winners in a bounce game against Dufftown on Tuesday, with McHardy playing the full 90 minutes.
Bayne hopes City can score step-up
Meanwhile, former Elgin City player/assistant manager Graham Bayne is hoping regardless of the result on Saturday, the Black and Whites can find a way to get promotion into League One this season.
They’ve had an inconsistent start to their league campaign, but are just five points behind fourth-placed Forfar Athletic.
Bayne, who was right-hand man to Barry Wilson in 2014, in a spell which sadly lasted less than a year, has fond memories of the people who work hard at the Moray club.
He said: “It’s an incredible club and I loved the time we were there. It’s such a great club, run well by lovely people and it was a real shame it didn’t work out for us.
“Promotion would be brilliant to see. You look at how Cove are doing in League One following on from Inverness and Ross County going through the leagues.
“There will be a great crowd inside Borough Briggs on Saturday – it will be bouncing.”