Life without Sean Grant begins tonight with the midfielder’s appearance against Wick on Saturday his last for the club.
The 25-year-old, who scored the winning goal in Saturday’s 3-2 win against Wick Academy, is emigrating to Australia.
Fort manager Calum MacLean said: “We’re sad to lose Sean as he has been an important player for us. He will be a big miss but we have a lot of games to play and it’s important we focus on who’s here and available.”
Fort host Forres Mechanics in a rescheduled Highland League match tonight and MacLean admits he has no idea which Can-Cans side will turn up at Claggan Park.
Forres beat Fort 4-1 at Mosset Park this season but MacLean has watched the Jekyll and Hyde results of the Moray men continue.
MacLean said: “When we played Forres at their place in October they looked one of the better teams in the league and we were well beaten on the night.
“I expected them to go on and be strong challengers this season but they lost their next game 5-2 at Rothes on the Saturday, so I’ve no idea what we’ll face this time.
“They’re a big, strong, physical team and they can cause any side problems on their day but we’re always confident at home.”
Fort are in confident mood following their excellent win against Wick.
MacLean said: “It was a great performance against Wick Academy, who I regard as one of the best footballing sides in the league and it’s a measure of the progress we’ve made this season.
“This is the start of a busy run of fixtures for us as we face the prospect of playing every Saturday and midweek from now until the end of the season but the players are up for the challenge. It certainly beats training.”
Forres manager Charlie Rowley agrees with MacLean’s assessment of his side’s season and believes his team will travel to Fort in the unaccustomed role of underdogs.
He said: “Calum’s right in that it has been an inconsistent season from us but we’ve won our last two away games and we will travel to Fort with confidence after a good 3-0 win at Strathspey on Saturday.
“Fort have shown a real appetite for Highland League football this season and their win against Wick shows the level they are capable of playing at now.
“Given they have home advantage and recorded a great win on Saturday they will be favourites and it will be interesting to see how they handle that tag.”
Full-back Simon Allan is absent due to a chest infection while fellow full back Ryan Mackintosh has a foot injury.