Robert Scott is pleased Deveronvale have an increased penalty box threat for their Scottish Cup tie with Camelon Juniors by being able to call on the services of Dane Ballard.
The striker spent 18 months on the sidelines with ruptured knee ligaments and a torn lateral meniscus and was just making his comeback when last season was halted because of the pandemic.
Ballard started last weekend against Huntly and his fellow forward Scott is pleased to have him available for the Banffers’ Scottish Cup tie against East of Scotland League side Camelon in the second preliminary round.
Scott said: “I’d played with Dane for a couple of years before he got injured and it’s good to see him back.
“Often he’ll play through the middle and I’ll play on the wing and he’s a good link-up player and I think we link quite well.
“There’s no doubt having Dane back gives us more threat, particularly in the box, but we’ve also got Scott Dunn who can chip in with goals and Ryan Farquhar has joined as well, so we have good attackers.
“But having Dane in the team does help when it comes to having a threat and a finisher in the box.”
Scott relishes playing in the Scottish Cup and knows doing well in the competition could make a big difference to Deveronvale this season.
He added: “It’s a big competition for players at our level and it’s a good chance to see if we can get the club a cup run and test ourselves against teams from a higher level.
“Winning this game would give everyone a massive boost and get the confidence up.
“I would imagine it would help the club financially as well, particularly in the current circumstances.
“It’s a difficult time for clubs and we agreed that we’d accept not getting paid and that’s a good sign because it helps the club, but it also shows we’re playing for the club and not for the money.”
