Fort William boss Russell MacMorran hopes an infiltrating herd of stags does not cost his side dear this weekend.
The Lochaber outfit posted a video on Twitter of the marauding wildlife which prompted to briefly postpone their Thursday training session.
The league’s bottom two sides meet at Grant Park, with Fort given the chance to close the gap on second-bottom Lossiemouth.
MacMorran said: “They are actually there quite regularly but it’s the first time I’ve encountered them coming so close. When I turned up at 6pm a herd of six of them were standing just off the pitch. We stayed away from them – there was no way we were going near them.
“We were training up the top end and then the remaining three decided they would come to have a closer look. Our football must be improving, as they’ve not got that close before!”
We’ve had to stop training because of some stags?? pic.twitter.com/TpEPXtMGwL
— Fort William FC (@FortWilliamFC) December 5, 2019
The game was due to take place at Claggan Park but due to the conditions in Fort Wiliam this week, a decision was taken to reverse the venue. Fort will be without long-term injury victim John Treasurer and defender Gabriel Hastings for the game.
Due to postponements, the Fort have only managed 10 league games this season, six less than today’s opponents.
MacMorran added: “We had to be sensible. The forecast was not getting any better and we’re already eight games behind Forres, who’ve played the most. We need to get back into league action so we spoke to Lossiemouth and they were more than amenable to the switch.
“We’re both at the bottom but a win moves us closer. We’ve got to turn games into points, or it means nothing to us. Now all the cup distractions are gone, we have to focus on the league.”
Elsewhere, Clach chase a third straight victory this weekend. The Lilywhites recorded back-to-back victories for the first time this season with their 3-1 win at Keith seven days ago and they welcome Deveronvale to Grant Street Park, who sit in 11th spot after a 1-1 draw with Wick Academy.
Wick can leapfrog Keith into the top half of the table, if they beat fourth-bottom Strathspey Thistle.
