Stoneywood Dyce player-coach Jan Stander remains confident they will be safe in the Eastern Premiership this season.
They missed out on the opportunity to secure their safety last week, as their game at Stewarts Melville was washed out with just seven overs of play possible.
The People’s Park outfit have two games left, both on the road, starting with Watsonians on Saturday. They also have a slight cushion on Meigle and Stewarts below them, with the bottom two due to play each other on the last day of the season.
Stander would have preferred to have safety secured already and hopes the Stoneywood Dyce players are able to enjoy the pressure of the situation.
He said: “We’ve always been a team that punches above our weight, giving younger players the opportunity to go and play. We’ll have to put in a decent performance this Saturday and see where it leaves us for next week.
“I said to the guys, from a coaching perspective, where we are now we’ve got to let players try and enjoy it. Trying to let them completely express themselves is difficult when we’ve had such a changing team.
“When you’re missing senior players or players you rely on to perform, it’s difficult to let the younger players play with freedom as they feel they need to perform now.
“I think we should be OK. We want players to be able to go out and enjoy the game.”
Watsonians are safe in mid-table, with six wins from 13 games, with Stoneywood Dyce managing four from 15.
For the club and Stander, getting this season in the books and being able to reassess for the 2022 campaign is the priority.
He added: “The focus is to get these games seen out and take stock for next season. See what bits went well – the likes of Jack Lambley and Ailsa Lister, how well they’ve done and they’ll be a year older.
“But we also need to check if the likes of Shaun (Coetzer) will be available more next year, how much George (Ninan) and myself are going to be able to play next year.
“It’s been a bit of an indifferent season for many reasons. Going down to Edinburgh five times a season is not a non-committal thing. You’ve got to be committed.”
Lennard Bester will miss the Watsonians game, as will Martin Reid, Shaun Coetzer, Tim Bovaird and Ewan Davidson. Jon Grant, Sawan Kumar and Ryan Williams come into the team.
