Graeme Stewart has called on Buckie Thistle to take the Breedon Highland League title race down to the wire.
The Jags tackle Wick Academy at Victoria Park tonight knowing that defeat would end their hopes and hand the league to leaders Fraserburgh.
A win or a draw would give Buckie a chance at glory this weekend, although they will need the Broch to slip up against Forres Mechanics.
Manager Stewart said: “I think for the Highland League it would be great and it’s very exciting compared with some seasons where it’s won with games to spare.
“For the league and for us it would be very good to take it to the last day, but everything else is outwith our control.
“We want to make Fraserburgh work for it – I don’t want them winning it because of us slipping up – we want to make them win their last game and take it to the wire.
“Fraserburgh have been more consistent than us so far this season and deserve to be where they are.
“If they drop points and we win our two games then we’ll be deserving champions and if they win their last game then they’re deserving champions.”
Buckie suffered disappointment on Saturday losing to Brora Rangers in the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup final.
Stewart added: “I don’t think it will be hard for players to lift themselves, I’m over it.
“On Saturday I was a bit depressed, but by Sunday I was thinking about the next two games, about next season, signing players and pre-season schedules.
“If you want to be successful you need to move on you can’t dwell too much on your wins or your losses.”
Scorries seek upset
Meanwhile, Wick player-manager Gary Manson reckons the Scorries can upset the odds and end Buckie’s 23-match winning streak in the league.
He said: “If you go by results against the top teams this season then you would give us no chance.
“We’ve only taken two points against sides above us this season which would point towards a Buckie win.
“But we’ve shown in spells in the games against these teams that we can compete with them.
“So we need to put in a full 90 minute performance and see where that takes us.
“All things point towards a Buckie win, but there’s no reason why we can’t give a good account of ourselves and take something from the game.”
Rothes and Locos look for strong finish
Elsewhere, it’s seventh against sixth at Mackessack Park as Rothes face Inverurie Locos.
The Speysiders have been hit with two postponements in the last week due to their pitch being waterlogged.
Manager Ross Jack is hopeful this fixture will be played and is looking for a good finish to the campaign.
He said: “Our aim would be to finish with four victories. We’ve got tough games but we’ve set a target of four wins.
“If we could win the games we could finish fifth, at the start of the season we had hoped to be higher than that.
“But we haven’t managed it for various reasons and if fifth is the best we can achieve that’s what we’ll go for.”
Inverurie counterpart Richard Hastings is already looking towards next season both on the pitch and in the transfer market.
He added: “We’ve got two players (Neil McLean and Ryan Broadhurst) retiring which forces your hand a little bit.
“We’re no different from any other club at this time of the year we have our eyes open.
“I don’t know the Highland League market as well as some other people in the league that’s where I need to use my contacts and people I trust to help, like my coaching staff.”
