Former Caley Thistle and Ross County defender Grant Munro has stood down as assistant to manager Steven MacDonald at Rothes.
The 36-year-old has recently started a new job and, coupled with family commitments, feels he can no longer give the time required.
Speysiders’ manager Steven MacDonald admitted Munro’s decision had not come as a surprise, when he said: “Grant has been in the game a long time, and it was always a worry for me that it would get to this stage.
“I will get somebody else and have already approached someone. Grant has had a great career but latterly he was struggling with his fitness. He has had a long time in the game but the time is right for him to take a break.”
It is 39 years since Rothes last won the North of Scotland Cup but a win against Fort William at Mackessack Park on Saturday would leave the Speysiders just 90 minutes away from having the chance to repeat the feat, although Brora Rangers or Forres Mechanics, who meet at Dudgeon Park, will have their say.
Manager MacDonald would relish the chance to lead his side to a final in his first season in charge, when he said: “In Saturday’s quarter-final at Golspie we had quite a good support and I could tell everybody was excited about the chance of getting through to the semi-final then perhaps the final. It’s good to see the interest. We have the chance to take another step on Saturday and I hope we can do it, as a trip to the final is a great day out.
“We know it won’t be easy as we played Fort William at Claggan Park at the end of March and although we ran out 5-3 winners we had to come back from 2-0 down.
“Poor defending cost us that day and we will have to keep a close eye once again on Scott Davidson, he is scoring every week these days and just about every club in the league is looking to recruit him for next season as he’s already scored 28 goals.”
Fort manager, Ally Ewen, is hoping to squeeze in one more match before he calls it a day. He said: “I signed off last weekend with my last game at Claggan Park and to get the win was an added bonus. We can now look forward to a cracking semi-final tie on Saturday at Mackessack Park, Rothes.”
