Marcus Goodall believes Buckie Thistle need to prove their title credentials against Fraserburgh.
The Jags – who are second in the Breedon Highland League – face leaders the Broch at Bellslea.
Buckie are three points behind tonight’s opposition, having played a game more, and would go top if they win by two goals or more.
For Goodall, 20, it’s his first experience of challenging to win the league and he is eager to help Thistle stay the course.
The striker said: “Hopefully we can continue our challenge. These are the games you want to be involved in and they’re the games where you need to prove why you’re in a title race, it’s as simple as that.
“But we know how hard it’s going to be, because Fraserburgh are top of the league and we’re playing them away from home.
“We need to do the best we can and try to get something out of the game.
“If you want to try to win the league, you need to try to get results in these games.
“We’ve got a lot of tough fixtures coming up and a lot of midweek games, but it’s just one step at a time.
“It’s really good to be involved in something like this, particularly because it’s my local team.
“You would want to try to win the league with any team, but when it’s with your local team it’s that bit more special.
“It’s a new experience for me and it’s something I’m embracing.”
Quick start for striker
Goodall has been in good form for Buckie and has netted 12 goals this season, the latest of which came after only 15 seconds in Saturday’s win over Nairn County.
He added: “I thought it was longer. It wasn’t until after the game that the boys were saying it was 15 or 20 seconds.
“Then I read the report in the Press and Journal which said it was 15 seconds.”
Broch look to move six points clear
Meanwhile, Fraserburgh’s Bryan Hay wants them to rise to the occasion against their closest challengers.
A victory for the Broch would move them six points clear at the summit.
The 32-year-old defender said: “These games are six-pointers and they can make a big difference.
“So far this season we’ve risen to the challenge in most of these games and we want that to continue.
“You can’t win them all, but we want to try to get as many of them as we can and hopefully we can get another win.
“There’s a lot of football still to be played this season, but if we were to win it would make things look a bit better for us.
“If we don’t win, it’s not the end of the world and nothing will be decided.
“But you want to get points on the board, particularly with games going off and a lot of midweek games to play. The more points we can get on the board just now the better.”
Hay says they can’t be below par
Buckie are one of only two sides to take points off Fraserburgh this season, with the sides drawing 2-2 at Victoria Park in August.
The Broch earned a draw courtesy of Paul Campbell’s injury-time penalty.
Hay, who was recently granted a testimonial, added: “Hopefully we can rise to the challenge and put in a performance to get the win and if we can’t get that then hopefully we can at least get a point.
“We didn’t play well at Buckie last time and if we’re below our best again I don’t see us getting anything out of the game.
“But if we play well then I think we can win the game.”
Seen the latest #HighlandLeagueWeekly yet?
🚂 @InverurieLocos thought they should've had a corner here ahead of @brorarangers' second goal… They had a point.https://t.co/dhw2nXBdZT pic.twitter.com/J1Pv9rqYFx
— P&J Sport (@PandJSport) February 8, 2022
