Buckie Thistle’s Andrew MacAskill is bracing himself for an Inverurie Locos backlash as the sides meet again in the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup.
The Jags defeated the Railwaymen 5-1 in the Breedon Highland League at Harlaw Park on Saturday.
That result moved Buckie to within a point of Fraserburgh at the top of the table.
But, ahead of the rematch at Victoria Park in the quarter final of the League Cup, MacAskill is taking nothing for granted.
The 29-year-old midfielder said: “They’re a good team and we were clinical on Saturday and we expect a response from Inverurie.
“They have been at the top end of the league their entire time in the Highland League.
“They have a lot of quality and will be motivated and we need to match that intensity.
“I’ve been at Buckie for almost four years and we haven’t won anything, which isn’t really good enough.
“The cup is a good opportunity to try to end that.
“We’re not in a position to prioritise things here or there – we just want to win every single game.
“We feel we’ve got a bit of unfinished business in the cup – we let ourselves down in the final against Rothes (a 2-1 defeat in October 2020).
“This group of players is really motivated and, whether it’s in the cup or the league, we want to try to win something.”
Locos look to respond
Inverurie manager Richard Hastings is relishing the opportunity to try to avenge their defeat at the weekend.
The winner of this tie will be away to Forres Mechanics or Clachnacuddin in the semi-finals.
Hastings added: “The only good thing is we’re playing them again, I don’t shy away from that.
“I don’t say: ‘oh no, we’ve been beaten 5-1 and we’ve got them again.’
“It’s a chance to go and react to what was a poor performance.
“It’s a huge opportunity for the club. We must forget about Saturday in terms of the score, but take stuff from it.
“We’ve seen the draw and and on paper in terms of league positions we look at the draw and you could say it’s favourable.
“There’s a huge opportunity to get through and potentially get through to the final.
“There’s everything to play for and we need to dust ourselves down and go again.”
