Highland head coach Davie Carson has urged his players to ignore National 1 standings when his side makes the trip to Aberdeen Grammar this weekend.
Grammar require a victory to keep alive their faint hopes of avoiding back-to-back relegations, when they host a fifth-placed Highland outfit at Rubislaw.
Having been forced to dig deep for a 34-22 win over Watsonian in their last fixture, Carson wants his side to ensure they bring their best performance levels with them when they make the journey along the A96.
Carson said: “We said to the guys with four games to go that we wanted maximum points.
“We got the first five, now we are away to Aberdeen and Dundee, and then we finish at home to Kelso.
“With no disrespect, we will be expecting five points if we play to our ability this weekend. We have certainly been playing pretty well recently, and scoring some good tries.
“We just need to continue in that vein of form.
“I think they can mathematically still stay up, if they get five points and other results go their way.
“It’s the same as we said about Watsonian, and they gave us a real fright.
“We played pretty well in spells and other times we were a bit lax. We were asleep in the first 10 minutes and they scored two tries.
“We’ve just got to be aware of that and go about our job as we know we can do.”
Options at Highland’s disposal
Carson has been pleased with the way his side has adapted to a variety of selection problems in recent weeks, with Highland aiming to move a step closer to securing a top-five finish.
He will be boosted by the return of a number of experienced campaigners, such as Seumas Ross, Rupeni Rokoduguni, Craig Findlater, Gordon Gregor and Sean Blair.
Carson added: “We have had a lot of disruption with injuries. At this time of the season we have had a lot of guys out, and we haven’t had the same settled side out.
“We have chopped and changed so many times, with students helping us out.
“It has been really pleasing to still get results with that. Even when we went to Melrose, we just lost out by a try in the end when we had a lot of guys that hadn’t played together before.
“It was credit to them they put in a performance and nearly got a result. We will look to continue that on.”
Orkney on fine National 3 form
In National 3, Orkney are aiming to carry on a run of four straight wins when they make the trip to Perthshire.
Although his side is sixth in the table, head coach Derek Robb is wary of Orkney’s ninth-placed opponents, who claimed a fine 69-38 win away to Murrayfield Wanderers last time out.
Robb said: “The travel is always something we factor in when we are playing away from home, especially this weekend as we are getting the ferry.
“It does take a fair bit out of the legs, especially in the first 20 minutes.
“With the squad we have available to choose from, hopefully we can make the most of our attacking opportunities and try to limit the opportunities for Perthshire.
“Perthshire have been knocking out some good results and they are certainly in a far better place than they were at the start of the season.
“If our guys keep up the same level of intensity right up until the end of the season, that will be the key to it. We need everyone switched on and giving it everything they have for the team, and that’s all we can ask of them.
“If we do perform, we can be a bit of a handful for any team.”
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