Mark Cowie hopes Fraserburgh can hit the heights under the Friday night lights against Banks o’ Dee.
The fifth-placed Aberdeen side welcome the Broch, who are sixth, to Spain Park this evening (7.30pm kick-off) in the Breedon Highland League.
Manager Cowie is looking for his side to be more consistent, having taken 19 points from their 10 league fixtures.
He said: “I think it’s fair to say that we haven’t quite been hitting the standards we’re capable of.
“I say that having been manager for last eight years and knowing what we’ve been capable of in that time.
“We’ve just been a bit inconsistent, some parts of the game we’re doing well and some parts we’re not doing so well.
“I think we’re knocking the ball about better than we have done for a long time.
“But it’s been in front of teams and we haven’t created as many chances we did in the past when we were a bit more direct.
“We need to find the balance and we’ve spoken about that in terms of when to play and when to be direct so we’re not too predictable.
“If you look at our results we’ve shown we’re still a good team and we’ve reached another cup final (in the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup).
“But we’ve also had some results which have probably put us on the edge of the title race which means the margin for error is severely reduced.
“However, everyone has dropped points already and there’s nobody running away with it at this stage.”
Meanwhile, Banks o’ Dee’s Alasdair Stark recognises the importance of the head-to-heads between sides at the top end of the division and impact they could have on the title race.
The 25-year-old defender said: “We’ve done quite well against teams at the top end of the league, but dropped points against some of the sides in mid-table.
“We need to put that right if we’re going to mount a serious challenge, it’s still early days and anyone could go on a run.
“Quite often the league comes down to who has beaten each other when the top five or six play each other.
“You try to win every game, but these games can prove to be important if you can get something out of them.
“If you can beat a couple of the teams near the top a gap can appear and on the other hand if you lose a couple, teams can pull away from you.”
Friday night delight
It’s second season in succession that this fixture has been switched to a Friday night and both Stark and Cowie can see the benefits.
Stark added: “I think there should be more Friday night football. It’s good for supporters because it allows them to potentially watch another game on a Saturday.
“For the club it’s good for hospitality and getting fans through the door.
“As players we really like playing on a Friday night and if it’s a local game and both teams are up for it I’d like to see more of it.”
🔜 We’re back into Highland League action on Friday night at Spain Park, hoping to bounce back after defeat in the Scottish Cup last Saturday pic.twitter.com/eZyojk034b
— Banks o' Dee FC (@banksodee_fc) November 1, 2023
Cowie said: “As a club we’re open to these kind of requests because we know how difficult it is to keep a part-time club running.
“Friday night games can produce better income for teams and if that’s the case we’ll try to oblige.
“The players are probably happy because it frees up the weekend and they don’t get many free weekends.”
