Peterhead have not had many moments in the spotlight of late, something manager Jim McInally is acutely aware of.
For a club in the lower reaches of League One and not perennially challenging for titles, maybe this is understandable. Maybe the outside world does not see them as a sexy enough story.
But tonight they will have their chance to showcase what they can do. The TV cameras are at Balmoor for the visit of Dundee in the Scottish Cup, with the spotlight on Peterhead and McInally.
“The one thing I hope is they don’t let themselves down,” said McInally. “I know if they were to put on a show, they’ll give Dundee a game.
“The last thing I want is for them to roll over. I know Dundee will be coming off the high of the result at Tynecastle, but I’ll be disappointed if we don’t make it an awkward night for them.
“It’s a free-hit for us. In the grand scheme of things our season is all about the league, probably the same for Dundee to a certain extent.
“But they do see it as an easy passage to the quarter-finals. They’re a club that’s not had any sort of decent cup run in a long time, so they will see it as a great opportunity.
“I believe and some of my players believe they can play at a higher level. Now here’s their opportunity to prove it.”
McInally is an old favourite of Dundee’s city neighbours United, having been part of the team which reached the Uefa Cup final in 1987. He also had a spell at Dundee late in his career as a player-coach.
The Blue Toon may well come up against some familiar faces come kick-off. Josh Mulligan played a starring role on loan at Peterhead earlier this season, before being recalled by the Dark Blues last month.
Mulligan has been played in midfield by Dundee boss James McPake, compared to his right wing-back role at Peterhead, with the teenager crediting the Buchan outfit for helping forge him into a Premiership player.
Cammy Kerr is also a likely starter for the opposition. Kerr had two loan spells under McInally at Peterhead, which could be said to have had a catalytic effect on his Dundee career.
“We’re well aware of what Josh has got about him and it’s an area of the park where we need to be strong,” said McInally. “You’ve got him and (Shaun) Byrne in there, so we’ll need to be strong. We can’t allow Charlie Adam to get his head up.
“But we’ve got Scott Brown, Andy McCarthy, Grant Savoury and Hamish Ritchie. We’ve got talent in there and they’ll work hard.
“Cammy’s first spell at Peterhead was really good for him. He kicked on and you could see him improving all the time. He was always better defensively than he was going forward, but he had great energy.
“In the second spell, he wasn’t quite as effective, because his contract was up at the end of the season and I think he spent more time worrying about whether he would be retained or not.
“I said to Paul Hartley at the time he’d be better taking him back, because he was more worried about what was going to happen to him at the end of the season.
“It turned out to be really good for him as, with injuries at Dundee, he got in the first-team and was man-of-the-match in a Dundee derby.
“It got him his new contract and, since then, he’s never really looked back.”
McInally knows Peterhead need their big players to come to the fore and their strengths to shine through. This is a young, energetic side which thrives on intensity. If they are to stand a chance of causing an upset, this will have to be a key tenet of their gameplan.
The dynamism of young midfielders like Grant Savoury and Ryan Duncan, who has impressed on his loan spell from Aberdeen, as well as the big-game mentality of the likes of Andy McCarthy, Scott Brown and Russell McLean, could prove invaluable.
There is perhaps some ire between the two clubs, given Peterhead were unhappy with Dundee using their three loan players against them in the Challenge Cup earlier in this season.
Lyall Cameron and Danny Strachan, who joined with Mulligan at the start of the campaign, were also due to be recalled by Dundee last month and are out of the picture at Balmoor.
This game was clearly selected for live broadcast for a reason: the potential for an upset. Dundee have not hit the form they would have liked in the Premiership and face awkward customers in Peterhead.
“I’ll reiterate it to the players that a quarter-final for Peterhead has only ever happened once before,” said McInally. “It’s there for them if they turn up, if they take up the challenge.
“It’s up to us. We need to go out and earn their respect. I don’t think we’ve got their respect as a football club, so we need to earn their respect as a team.”
