Ali Crawford: "Progressing will come down to who wants it more"

Crawford was a part of the side that lost at Somerset Park back at the end of September before watching on from the stands whilst out injured at the beginning of November as both sides played out for a draw in Inverclyde.

And he believes that the sides could be set for another close contest as they go head-to-head this weekend.

The former Accies and St Johnstone man says any tie between two Championship sides is usually balanced on a knife edge.

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He feels the Cappielow side must take advantage of the Scottish Cup stage and claim their first win in South Ayrshire since 2022.

He told the Tele: "We're in a division where anybody can beat anyone. It's crazy tight. You could get beat 5-0 one week and go out and win 3-0 the next week.

"Obviously this is a cup game. It's a one-off game where anything can happen so we need to be confident.

"In the first game against Ayr, there wasn't anything between the sides. They got a penalty in which they scored from but it shouldn't have counted.

"Then in the game here at Cappielow on the Friday night there wasn't really anything in it. It wasn't pretty to watch and both teams sort of nullified each other.

"There wasn't much in it then, so I don't imagine that there will be much in it between the two sides this time around either. It'll just come down to who wants it more. 

"I don't think in cup games that the performance really matters, if it comes down to it, you need to roll your sleeves up and do what you can to get into the hat.

"We'll need to make sure that we can do that this weekend."

Crawford says that Ton head to Ayr as a team on the up (Image: alex craig)

Crawford is excited at the prospect of returning to action after missing out on the last seven games through injury.

He was forced off against Raith Rovers in October with a hamstring complaint before injuring his calf whilst trying to get back to fitness but he says he's coming back into a side that should be full of confidence following on from their win in Kirkcaldy nearly two weeks ago.

He added: "When you're on a high in football you quickly get dealt with a blow.

"I feel as if I'd been consistent throughout the first five or six games so it was annoying to have to come out for the exact same amount of time.

"I've had to sit and watch in that time when I'm desperate to play and the team has gone through some highs and lows since then too.

"But they got a good result to raise the spirits against Raith last time around and that'll give us some confidence."