Mark Nicolson is aiming to help Brora Rangers finish a frustrating season on a high note.
The Cattachs take on Rothes at Mackessack Park knowing a victory would be a major step towards securing fourth spot in the Breedon Highland League.
Although the Sutherland side are in the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup final, defender Nicolson has been disappointed with their league form.
The 33-year-old said: “Rothes is another tough test for us and they’ll be looking to overtake us in the league.
“We need to pick ourselves up and go again. We know the quality we’ve got in this team and we’re definitely underachieving at the moment.
“We know that ourselves and when the chips are down nothing seems to go your way.
“I can’t pinpoint what the problem is, but letting in goals early on is not really helping.
“It’s very frustrating, but the cup final is around the corner and if we could win that it would soften the blow of a pretty poor season.”
Last week Nicolson signed a contract extension with Brora until the summer of 2023.
He added: “I can see the potential at the club, there’s a lot of really good young players in the team.
“I’m hoping I can give it at least one more season, help the young boys progress and help the club progress.”
😱 A mix-up at the back gives @BrechinCityFC the lead over @brorarangers…
The new #HighlandLeagueWeekly is out NOW – featuring highlights, reaction and analysis from the weekend, plus Charlie Duncan on @FraserburghFC, the club he managed for so long.https://t.co/KueFCVt0Od pic.twitter.com/WX0zlAfKeu
— P&J Sport (@PandJSport) March 28, 2022
Rothes aim to reel in Brora
Meanwhile, Rothes manager Ross Jack wants his side to bounce back after Saturday’s loss to Strathspey Thistle.
The Speysiders, who have three games in hand, are aiming to narrow the gap to Brora to six points with a win.
Although Rothes have been hit with a spate of injuries recently, the return of Gregg Main has bolstered them.
Jack said: “If we’re going to catch Brora, this is a game we need to win.
“We’ll need to try to recapture some of our form from earlier in the season.
“Recently we’ve had problems scoring goals, we had chances against Strathspey and didn’t take them – and it caught up with us.
“We made mistakes that we don’t normally make and we need to be back on song again and right those wrongs.
“(On) Gregg, he took a break from the game, but he offered his services because of the injury problems we had with players missing.
“He was on the bench against Buckie and started on Saturday and did extremely well.”
Rothes also have recent signing Kyle Whyte and Fraser Robertson back in contention.
Elsewhere, Huntly face Deveronvale at Christie Park. The hosts are missing Lyall Booth, Ryan Sewell, Robbie Foster, Michael Clark, Angus Grant, Stuart Taylor, Bradley Manson, Euan Storrier and Colin Charlesworth, but Kyle Dalling and Gavin Elphinstone return from suspension.
Michael Watson, Dane Ballard and Aaron Hamilton are doubtful for the Banffers, and Robbie Allan is out.
