Ryan Stuart and Lossiemouth are determined to end a 12-year wait for a win in the Scottish Cup.
The Coasters take on East of Scotland League First Division Conference B side Preston Athletic in round one of this season’s tournament at Grant Park this weekend.
Lossie haven’t won a Scottish Cup tie since September 2009 when they defeated Newton Stewart 4-1.
But striker Stuart is hopeful that will change this season.
The 26-year-old said: “It would be great if we could change that, getting through in the cup is a massive incentive anyway.
“Scottish Cup week is always a big week and if we could manage to get a win and get through that would be great for the players and the club financially.
“It would give us all a bit of a boost, particularly when it’s been so long for the club.”
Coasters have been close
Last season Lossiemouth came desperately close to ending their wait for a victory in the Scottish Cup.
Joe Russell’s charges drew 4-4 with Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale, but lost 4-2 on penalties.
Despite the disappointment of defeat Stuart took positives from that experience as the Coasters prepare to return to the national competition.
The former Forres Mechanics man added: “We’ve been unlucky in the Scottish Cup before.
“Last season we started quite poorly, but showed our spirit to get back into the game.
“Shoot-outs can be a lottery sometimes and it was gutting to go out the way we did.
“But I think we gained some confidence from the way we came back and showed we could compete.”
Lossie are in form
Preston Athletic are top of their league, however, Lossiemouth are also in decent form.
The Moray outfit have won their last two Breedon Highland League fixtures against Keith and Turriff United.
Stuart said: “I don’t think any of us know much about Preston Athletic.
“But we’ll look to play our game and put in another positive performance.
“Hopefully that will allow us to get a result.
“We’ve shown this season we can compete and we’ve felt for a while we’ve got the players to do it.
“But you need to get the results to prove that. We’ve also found that when we’ve managed to get an early goal it’s given us all a lift and we’ve managed to get wins from some of those games.”
Experience has been gained
Stuart believes Lossiemouth have improved this season as their young squad have gained experience in the Highland League over the past few years.
He said: “It’s been a pretty good start to the season for us.
“I think we had a bit more confidence in the squad this season because a lot of us are a bit older and more experienced.
“We’ve always felt we’ve got decent players, it’s been about gaining a bit more know how and learning in the Highland league.
“The management team deserve huge credit. You see at some clubs they maybe just try to throw money at it.
“But they’ve stuck with us and hopefully we’re starting to show some of that form that they know we can produce.”
