Peterhead co-manager Jordon Brown believes his side can get the club’s Viaplay Cup campaign off to a flying start by shocking Championship side Partick Thistle on Saturday.
The Jags make the trip to Balmoor having missed out on promotion to the Premiership after losing a penalty shoot-out at Ross County in the play-off final.
Partick will be strong favourites for their trip to Peterhead, but Blue Toon co-boss Brown says he and Ryan Strachan’s side are in confident mood ahead of their opener.
He said: “To be successful on the park you need to be good off it and we’ve got a good blend at the club of experience and youngsters, guys who have been here and new faces, and guys from the north and south.
“There’s an excellent feel about it, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t get results, and there’s no reason why we can’t win on Saturday.
“We’re looking to go out and be positive and put on a good display.”
Blue Toon will face a much-changed Jags
Partick have lost several members of their squad after failing to win promotion and Brown admits the Jags game has been a tough one to prepare for.
He said: “The cup is really tough no matter who you play. Early on it’s a slight extension of pre-season initially as the fitness builds up, but the games will have a competitive edge.
“Partick are a bit of an unknown due to the turnover they have had since missing out on promotion.
“They were a penalty kick away from going up so we have the utmost respect for them.
“But we want to continue our style of play where everyone knows what their job is and wants to get on the ball.”
Co-managers delighted with pre-season progress
The Blue Toon go into Saturday’s game in good spirits after completing their pre-season preparations with a 1-1 draw at Cove Rangers on Tuesday.
Brown says he and Strachan are delighted with the progress which has been made by the squad in the warm-up matches.
He said: “We have built from the first Buckie game when we had north boys and trialists.
“We’ve played Banks o’ Dee, a closed door game, a junior team and we’ve now played a League One team. We’re delighted and really proud of the players against Cove.
“We gave them the task of going there and showing they could implement their style, attack, create chances and defend, and I think we did all of that.
“Arguably we could have won the game, but ultimately that doesn’t matter and we look ahead to Saturday now.”
Peterhead still hoping to add to their squad
It has been a busy summer at Balmoor as Brown and Strachan regroup following relegation from League One and ahead of their League Two campaign, but the Blue Toon co-manager says they will still look to add to their squad if the right player is available.
Brown said: “We’re happy with the squad, but I think anyone in the country would say they would like to add one or two quality players to their squad and, if the opportunity to do that comes, we’ll try to strengthen.”
Scott Ross, Jordan Armstrong and Kieran Gibbons, who missed Tuesday’s draw at Cove, face late fitness tests for the Partick clash.
