Aaron Reid wants to prove his worth to Aberdeen during his loan spell with Formartine United in the Breedon Highland League.
The Pitmedden side face Fraserburgh at North Lodge Park this afternoon with striker Reid in fine form.
The 19-year-old has netted five times since joining Formartine last month. In midweek he bagged a hat-trick for the Dons’ development side in their Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup win against Keith.
After a loan spell at Peterhead where opportunities were limited Reid is happy to showcase his talents with Formartine.
He said: “If I’m getting minutes then I can show what I can do because I struggled for minutes when I was at Peterhead in the early part of the season.
“Now I’m getting the opportunities the goals are coming as well which is good.
“I need to keep playing like I have been in the last few weeks and hopefully come the end of the season I’ll be in a good position.
“I’ve enjoyed it at Formartine, the last few weeks have been good for myself.”
Today’s fixture is third v fourth in the Highland League.
United are seven points behind leaders Brechin City, with Fraserburgh a point further back having played a game more.
Reid is hopeful Formartine can remain in contention at the top.
He added: “It’s always a tough game against Fraserburgh, we’ll need to be at the top of our game to get a result against them.
“I still feel we’re in the mix, anybody can drop points against anybody in this league.
“We just need to try to keep grinding out results and hopefully we’ll be up there come the end of the season.”
Watt wants to keep pushing for Broch
Meanwhile, Fraserburgh’s Logan Watt feels he has enjoyed a breakthrough season with the Broch – but is determined not to rest on his laurels.
The 20-year-old midfielder has established himself as a regular at Bellslea this season and has scored eight goals.
But Watt believes there’s still a lot more to come and said: “It does feel like a breakthrough season. I’ve been playing more and contributing more goals as well.
“It’s good to get a run in the team and be able to contribute.
“I’ve got high standards for myself and there’s more I can do.
“Both as a group and individually we want to get better and keep pushing the standards up.
“We’ve dropped some silly points so it would be good to get the better of a top side like Formartine.
“We want to finish as high as possible in the league and we’ve still got two cups (GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup and Aberdeenshire Cup) to play for so hopefully it can be a good end to the season.”
Team news from around the Highland League
Elsewhere, Banks o’ Dee face Deveronvale at Spain Park. Jevan Anderson is set for a fitness test for the hosts while the Banffers will be without Kyle Dalling and Matthew Petermann, however, Scott Thomson is available again.
Max Foster is suspended for Turriff United, who take on Huntly at the Haughs. Brodie Allen, Alex Thoirs and Cameron Heslop are missing for the Black and Golds, but Joe Gauld returns.
Keith v Nairn County at Kynoch Park is subject to a 9am pitch inspection. If the fixture goes ahead the Maroons will be missing Joey Wilson and Ethan Smith, but Kieran Yeats could return.
The Wee County will be without Andrew MacLeod, Kenny McKenzie and Aaron Nicolson.
‼️ PITCH INSPECTION‼️
Due to the current weather we have agreed with @NairnCounty to have a pitch Inspection tomorrow morning at 9amWe will update everyone as soon as this has taken place. pic.twitter.com/Qko5N2t8DF
— Keith Football Club (@KeithFC) February 9, 2024
Brora Rangers face Clachnacuddin in a 2pm kick-off at Grant Street Park with the fixture switched due to Dudgeon Park being snowbound. For the Cattachs Max Ewan, Lewis Hyde and Josh Meekings are injured, but Colin Williamson returns.
James Anderson, Dylan Mackenzie and Kieran Chalmers are injured for the Lilywhites, while Millar Gamble can’t face his parent club.
Ross Elliott, Baylee Campbell, Ryan Stuart and Fraser Forbes are out of Lossiemouth’s game against Strathspey Thistle at Grant Park.
Steven Martin, John McLeod and Iain Ross are absent for the Grantown Jags.
Inverurie Locos may again be without Greg Mitchell and Mark Souter for their Harlaw Park clash with Brechin City. Anthony McDonald is missing for the league leaders with Michael Cruickshank a doubt.
Wick recruit Robertson ahead of trip to Forres
Wick Academy have signed former Ross County defender Matthew Robertson ahead of their clash with Forres Mechanics at Mosset Park.
The 16-year-old was in the Staggies’ Under-18s squad, but has now left the Premiership outfit and joined the Scorries.
Robertson could make his debut against the Can-Cans if the game passes an 8am pitch inspection.
Wick player-manager Gary Manson said: “He can play centre-back or left-back. Hopefully Matthew will progress into a really good defender for us because he’s a promising young player.
“If there are players from Caithness at Ross County or Inverness Caley Thistle and they come back up we always look to get them involved.
“In the last few years there haven’t been many, but going further back it’s a route the club has always gone down.
“Matthew is really keen to test himself in the Highland League and he’s had a taste of it playing for Ross County in the North of Scotland Cup.
“He’s trained with us on and off over the last year so he knows what we’re about and hopefully he hits the ground running.”
Meanwhile, Forres defeated Clachnacuddin in midweek. Boss Steven MacDonald wants to build on that by securing back-to-back wins for the first time since August.
He added: “The big thing for us now is to build on Wednesday’s win and progress from there. Hopefully we can take confidence from it. It’s only one game.
“If we could get another win, it would be a big week for us.
“Things haven’t been going for us, so we were very pleased to come out on the right end of it on Wednesday.
“The boys deserved that and it’s all about learning.”
Rothes try to make good first impression on boss
Sean McCarthy says the Rothes players need to prove themselves to new manager Richard Hastings.
The former Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Ross County and Canada defender will take charge of the Speysiders for the first time today when they face Buckie Thistle in a 2pm kick-off at Deveronvale’s Princess Royal Park.
Rothes are 10th in the Breedon Highland League and goalkeeper McCarthy is looking forward to working with Hastings.
The 30-year-old said: “As players you’ve got to make an impression, you can’t stand still.
“You’ve got to show what you’ve got, you need to justify your place in the team by performing well.
“The new manager has made a good impression. We had a meeting on Wednesday and he made sure we knew about what he was wanting to set in motion between now and the end of the season.
“We’re limited in what we can do in terms of league position and how far up the table we can get.
“The focus until the end of the season is to put things in place so we can get better long-term.”
With Buckie’s Victoria Park still unplayable, manager Graeme Stewart is grateful they are able to play fixtures at other venues.
After today the Jags’ next two home games later this month will be staged at Lossiemouth’s Grant Park.
Stewart added: “We need to play games because we’re behind and we’re delighted other clubs have supported us.
“I’m thankful to Deveronvale and Lossiemouth for allowing us to play games there, it’s a massive thing and it’s for the good of the league.
“It’s always a tough game against Rothes. It’s difficult to prepare for this one because Richard will come in with his own ideas and it may mean they approach it differently to previous games.”
