Formartine United full back Stuart Smith believes there is no better game for his side to focus on following the departure of their management team than Highland League leaders Fraserburgh.
The Broch make the trip to North Lodge Park tonight to face a United side without a manager following the departure of Paul Lawson and his assistant Russell Anderson on Sunday.
The duo left the club following Formartine’s 1-1 draw with bottom club Fort William and club captain Stuart Anderson has taken charge on an interim basis.
But with Mark Cowie’s league leading Broch making the short trip across Aberdeenshire tonight Smith knows it is vital his side respond.
He said: “It has been a tough couple of days. Formartine United is not a club in the habit of changing manager so it has been a strange time for the squad to see the management team move on.
“The only good thing is having a game to focus on in midweek and they don’t come any bigger than the Broch.
“They are in pole position in the league and will be wanting to bounce back from going out the Highland League Cup to Brora on Saturday.
“But hopefully we can rise to the occasion. We see this as a good chance to have a wee say in the title race.”
Broch also looking for reaction after weekend cup exit
Broch striker Sean Butcher, meanwhile, is looking to make amends after missing one of the spot kicks in his side’s penalty shootout defeat to Brora in Saturday’s semi-final.
He said: “When it goes to pens, it’s a lottery. The penalty I took was a bit embarrassing. I was trying to put a bit of force on it and it’s went over the bar.
“The boys want to win every cup, but that’ll give us a bit more fire now to hopefully go on and finish the league.”
The Broch have a good reputation in cup competitions but having come up all short in all three this term Butcher hopes having no more cup distractions can work in his club’s favour.
He said: “We wanted to win all the cups at the start of the season, but the three haven’t worked out and our sole focus will be on the league.
“It means we’ve got no distractions. There are eight games to go and we just need to be at it now.
“We’ll be focused on doing the best we can and hopefully we can get the job done.
“We’re going into a big game against a big team, but we’re quite a good team for bouncing back, so hopefully we can go to Formartine and do that.
“We need to really start pushing on for the rest of the season now.”
Meanwhile, Buckie Thistle will look to keep the pressure on leaders Fraserburgh when they host Brora Rangers at Victoria Park.
The Jags are looking to make it 18 successive wins but boss Graeme Stewart knows his side are in for a tough test against an in-form Brora Rangers.
The sides are also due to meet in next month’s Highland League Cup final at Station Park on April 9.
Stewart said: “We’ve got to try win every game. I don’t think we can win the league if we don’t.”
Brora boss Craig Campbell, whose side defeated Fraserburgh on penalties to earn their cup final spot, said: “It’s tight at the top and there’s a lot of big games to look forward to – and now we’ve got another one.
“You don’t get many easy games in the Highland League at this stage.”