Deveronvale will put this weekend’s Scottish Cup second-round replay against Linlithgow Rose on the backburner as they prepare to face Turriff United in an Aberdeenshire Shield first-round tie at Princess Royal Park, Banff, tonight.
Fraserburgh postponed their cup tie at Aberdeen University to give them more time to prepare for their replay against Edinburgh City on Saturday but Vale manager Charlie Charlesworth believes tonight’s game will encourage his players to prove they should feature on Saturday.
He said: “We could have put this game to one side to make sure that we got plenty of rest ahead of Saturday’s replay against Linlithgow Rose but, by the same token, I have a big squad ay my disposal.
“I am going to use this game to get some minutes into two or three players who didn’t play last Saturday and one or two others who have been on the fringes.
“As long as I am careful to make sure the guys who have been playing regularly are not too fatigued, I think this is a good game for us.
“I can afford to do it. It is a local derby and we will have some fresh legs on there as well, so we are all looking forward to it. Hopefully, we can carry on from where we left off on Saturday.
“We need to start a little bit brighter than we did at the weekend.
“Linlithgow were a good outfit but we didn’t get close enough to them, especially for the first 45 minutes but we came on strong towards the end.”
Confidence is high in the Turriff United camp after Saturday’s Scottish Cup triumph over Wick Academy but co-manager Mark Simpson is well aware of the derby danger.
Simpson said: “We know it will be a tough game, derbies always are, but we are looking to kick on from Saturday’s Scottish Cup win.
“We are under no illusions as to how difficult a task it will be. I don’t know if they will have one eye on their replay this weekend or not, but if it was me I would just take it one game at a time.
“We intend to go there tomorrow night expecting a really hard game, but we will give it our best shot.
“Only two players, Stuart Taylor and Nick Gray, are still on the injured list.”