GREENOCK Juniors boss Gary Fleming says his side will respect, but won't fear, their First Division opponents when the Nock return to cup action tomorrow.
Greenock will face a stern, though welcome, test of their level when Thorniewood United come to Ravenscraig in the second round of the South Challenge Cup.
Thorniewood, based in Viewpark in North Lanarkshire, are currently sitting in eighth position in the WoSFL's second tier, having won four and lost four of their league fixtures to date.
Their most recent outing was a disappointing 5-0 loss to second placed Rutherglen Glencairn, who are strong promotion candidates, and the Thorniewood team will look to get that out of their system and will likely see Saturday as an ideal opportunity to do that.
It is a match Greenock will relish: the team are on a run of five successive wins, and will approach the game with a respectful confidence. There is no sense of looking at the match as a free hit, and the management team and squad will be aiming to win and maintain their winning ways.
In recent seasons the Juniors have performed well against opponents in higher leagues. Last season the squad was only eight minutes away from a penalty shoot-out against a Darvel team composed of most of the players that shocked Aberdeen, and they also comfortably defeated Maryhill at Lochburn Park in a cup tie.
There are some availability issues for the home side: wing back Jack Graham sustained a soft tissue and ankle ligament injury in last week’s game against Glenvale and will be out for a few weeks, while Darren Patton is still not quite ready for his long anticipated comeback.
Goalkeeper Craig Beaton, who has been in superb form all season, is not available tomorrow. Despite the absentees it still leaves the management team with a high quality group to select from.
Fleming said: "Thorniewood are a First Division side with plenty of former senior footballers. That said, we also have players who have played senior, played in the Premier, plus other members of the squad who are capable of playing at that level.
"We will respect Thorniewood, but we certainly won’t fear them.
"The strength in depth of our squad this year means that while we will miss Jack, Craig and Darren we still have an array of options at our disposal.”
Saturday's cup tie at Ravenscraig gets under way at 2pm.
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