Brora Rangers striker Jordan MacRae is confident the Cattachs will do themselves justice if they are given the chance to compete in League Two.
Steven Mackay’s men clinched the greatest result in the club’s 142-year history on Tuesday, with a stunning 2-1 victory over Hearts in the Scottish Cup.
After winning the Highland League title last season, Brora were denied the opportunity to make the step up to the SPFL when a vote to end the season prematurely due to Covid-19 was passed.
With Brora making no secret of their ambition to progress, MacRae feels his side have shown they can hold their own against league opponents.
MacRae said: “I feel it does send a wee message that we’re ready for a step up.
“We feel a bit hard done by after last year, with us not getting to go up.
“If we had gone up, I don’t think it would have just been a case of us making up the numbers.
“I feel like we could have competed in every game we played.
“It just felt like they didn’t really care about us in the leagues below the SPFL.
“I thought we should at least have had the chance to play Kelty Hearts for the chance to go up.”
MacRae netted the opening goal against the Jambos to lay the foundations for Brora’s memorable win, before Martin Maclean’s late winner.
The former Nairn County and Cove Rangers forward was thrilled with his finish, but admits fatigue caught up with him in Brora’s first competitive game since January 11.
MacRae added: “I was pretty surprised by it, to be honest – it’s not often I score goals like that.
“It is usually a header or a tap-in, but I’m glad it went in the top corner.
“I think it was probably the cleanest I’ve ever hit a shot.
“Andy Macrae’s contribution linking up deserves special mention. We played together when we were younger and ever since he came to Brora we’ve just clicked.
“It worked well for us against Hearts.
“The first time I asked the referee how long was left he told me there was still 20 minutes.
“We just had to push through it. We ran out of subs so I was forced to play on.
“It was our first game for over two months so we took ourselves by surprise in how we managed to keep going and knock out last year’s finalists in the circumstances. We have had five training sessions in two months.”
Brora’s reward is a third round tie at home to Stranraer next Saturday, with MacRae hopeful his side can prolong their cup run.
The 22-year-old added: “It is not looking like the Highland League is going to continue, so this was our only chance to carry playing football and seeing each other.
“I still can’t believe we’ve actually won, but we always think we can give anyone a game on our day.
“We gave Hibs a decent game, although they beat us 3-1 in the League Cup. We have now beaten Hearts so we fancy our chances against most teams.”
