Shadab Iftikhar worries schedule could take its toll on Fort William in relegation play-off

Shadab Iftikhar fears Fort William’s relegation play-off against Banks o’ Dee could be one-sided after their hectic end to the season.

The Lochaber outfit finished their Breedon Highland League campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Rothes at Mackessack Park in what was their fifth outing in 11 days. 

On Saturday they tackle North Region Junior champions Dee at Spain Park in the first leg of the play-off.

Fort manager Iftikhar said: “It was a brilliant performance against Rothes with the players showing unbelievable character.

“We’ve not thought about Banks o’ Dee yet because we’ve had five games in 11 days to get through.

“We’ve respected the league and put a shift in in every game and that speaks volumes for the club.

“Banks o’ Dee are heavy favourites, right now we’ve not even got an eleven and at the moment the play-off game has a one-sided look.

“We can’t go again and put in that effort, to do what we did against Rothes is impossible.

“The players are not robots, we’ve put in five great performances but I don’t think we’ll be able to produce the same intensity against Banks o’ Dee.

“That’s me being honest, it’s a tough situation, but you never say never in football.
“If there is one group of players that can do it’s these players but things are against us and Banks o’ Dee are heavy favourites.”

Speysiders not at their best

In a poor game Rothes did most of the probing but found it difficult to carve out many clear-cut chances.

Fort had sporadic spells of pressure with Yves Zama denied by a good Bruce Milne block early in the second half.

The only goal came after 54 minutes with Michael Finnis heading home from Ross Gunn’s corner.

Rothes have one game left this season which is against Keith at Mackessack Park on Saturday.

If the Speysiders win they will finish fifth in the table ahead of Formartine United on goal difference.

Boss Ross Jack said: “Fort William made it very tough for us, but the quality was terrible from us.

“It’s three points, a clean sheet and we’ve got the chance to finish fifth.

“At the start of the season if we’d been told we’d finish fifth and win the North of Scotland Cup I don’t think we’d have said no.

“But we’ll need to play a lot better than that to beat Keith on Saturday.”