Jordan MacRae says Brora Rangers are on a redemption mission as they look to salvage their pyramid play-off tie against Kelty Hearts today.
Brora trail 2-0 following Tuesday’s first leg at Dudgeon Park, giving them an uphill task in today’s return fixture at New Central Park.
Cattachs boss Steven Mackay made his frustrations clear following the defeat, describing his side’s performance as unacceptable.
With today’s match offering Brora a quick chance to put things right against the Lowland League champions, forward MacRae is eager for the Sutherland outfit to do themselves justice.
MacRae said: “The defeat hurt us, so it is driving us on to try and be better on Saturday.
“We worked on a few things in training on Thursday, and we are pretty set on what we are going to do. Hopefully the gameplan works.
“We have created a lot of good memories in the squad, and all we want to do is create more.
“There is nothing better than starting with Saturday, hopefully getting a win to get us through to the next play-off game.
“There is not going to be any holding back on our part of the game.
MacRae was largely starved of attacking service on Tuesday, on a night in which Brora struggled to create clear-cut chances.
The former Cove Rangers and Nairn County striker, who netted the opener in the Cattachs’ memorable 2-1 Scottish Cup win over Hearts in March, hopes his side can show greater firepower when they make the trip to Fife.
MacRae added: “It was pretty frustrating. We didn’t see very much of the ball and we didn’t cross the ball like we usually do. It was just a frustrating night all round.
“We didn’t really have any shots, so we need to test the waters a bit more than we did on Tuesday.
“They are a good team and they have got experienced players.
“We kind of expected the way they played and we just didn’t deal with it well enough.
“If we are on our game, we will give them a good run for their money I think.
Should Brora turn the tie on its head, their reward will be another two-legged tie against bottom-placed League Two side Brechin City, with a place in the SPFL up for grabs.
Although Kelty are firmly in the driving seat to face the Angus side in the final, MacRae feels an early goal for the Highland League champions today can turn up the pressure on their opponents.
The 22-year-old added: “It’s obviously not ideal being two goals down.
“We are confident enough in ourselves, and we feel Tuesday night was probably one of our worst performances and it can’t get much worse.
“If we get an early goal it should open the game up pretty well for us.
“As long as we don’t concede, that could ruin things. If we can get a foothold in the game early doors, it will allow us to progress from there and we will see what we can do.”
