Fraserburgh captain Willie West says facing Brora Rangers will be a serious test of their title mettle.
The Broch make the trip to Dudgeon Park tonight sitting a point ahead of Buckie Thistle at the summit of the Breedon Highland League with six games remaining.
Taking on the fourth-placed Cattachs will be a stern examination of the Broch’s credentials but skipper West is relishing the challenge.
The 34-year-old said: “We expect nothing less than a really difficult game. When you look at their starting XI there is a lot of quality there and guys who could play at a higher level.
“There’s a few games to go but we’re just focusing on this game.
“If you want to be league champions you need to get results in these games against sides like Brora.
“This is one of the hardest fixtures we’ll play all season and we’ll see what we’re made of.
“We’re not looking too far ahead or looking at other results. We just look at our next game and that’s been working for us so we won’t change that and we’re trying to enjoy it as much as we can.”
West among club legends
West recently moved up to third in Fraserburgh’s all-time appearance list, surpassing former team-mate Russell McBride.
Since making debut in November 2003 West has aspired to win the Highland League.
The man who has featured 588 times for the Broch added: “I’m really proud to have played that many games for the club over the years, I still want to keep going and try to reach 600.
“There are a lot of legends on that list so it’s good to be up there beside them.
“That (winning the league) has been the aim since I started 19 years ago and this is probably as close as we’ve been.
“We’re doing everything we can to try to achieve it, but there are other good teams like Buckie, Brechin and Brora who all want the same thing and all have the opportunity to do it.
“We’re just trying to keep it out of their hands if we can.”
Gillespie’s century of strikes
Meanwhile, Brora also have a player in their ranks who has reached an impressive milestone with Dale Gillespie netting his 100th goal for the club against Lossiemouth on Saturday.
The midfielder said: “I was delighted to reach that number, in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really mean anything.
“But it’s a good personal achievement, albeit I’d far rather be winning trophies.
“But for a midfielder it’s pretty rare to score 100 goals at a club and the aim now is to get a few more before the end of the season and try to get the next hundred.”
Brora are six points behind Fraserburgh having played a game more and Gillespie believes they are out of contention to win the title.
But the 32-year-old is still eager to get a result against the side they beat 10 days ago to reach the final of the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup.
He added: “We’re out of the league race now and Fraserburgh are in pole position and need to win.
“But from our point of view we want to win all our remaining games so we can finish as high as possible and also try to build towards the Highland League Cup final.”
Nairn and Huntly clash
Elsewhere, ninth-placed Nairn County face 13th-placed Huntly at Station Park.
The Black and Golds have strengthened their squad with the signing of defender Lyall Booth.
However, the former Aberdeen, Buckie and Brechin defender will miss the clash with the Wee County because of injury.
Euan Storrier, Zander Jack, Colin Charlesworth, Angus Grant, Stuart Taylor, Bradley Manson and Michael Clark are also missing.
Manager Allan Hale said: “Lyall’s athletic, versatile in the positions he can play and also composed in possession of the ball which is what we’re looking for.
“There were other clubs interested as well but he turned them down to join us and he’ll bring a lot to the club.”