Peterhead co-manager Jordon Brown says his side’s focus on themselves, rather than the form of weekend Viaplay Cup opponents Dundee United.
The Blue Toon travel to Tannadice on Saturday with United having lost their opening two Group B clashes against Spartans and Partick Thistle – results which have put the spotlight on ex-Aberdeen gaffer Jim Goodwin.
In their own opening League Cup match, Peterhead drew 1-1 with Thistle at Balmoor Stadium, but missed out on a bonus point after losing the penalty shootout 10-9.
It was a positive start to the competitive season for the Buchan outfit, and Brown wants to build on that performance against Goodwin’s under-pressure side.
Brown said: “During pre-season we played junior teams, Highland League teams, a League One team and have now played Partick Thistle from the Championship.
“Dundee United have just come down from the Premiership, so it will be another tough test. There is a lot of noise around them just now, but we have to focus on ourselves and put in another positive performance.
“We want to build momentum ahead of the league season and be in the best possible position for that game against East Fife.
“We have to maintain the standard that we set last week. We go into every game wanting to win and put on a good show, so we will aim to do ourselves justice at Tannadice.”
Peterhead ‘excited’ by Tannadice challenge against under-fire Dundee United
Brown knows Dundee United will be looking to kick-start their season on home turf, but has backed his players to deal with whatever is thrown at them.
He added: “They will want to show a reaction and dominate the game, but it’s up to ourselves to take the noise out of that and show what we can do.
“We want to really frustrate them and keep doing what we have been, which is creating chances and trying to keep goals out at the other end. We know our numbers last year weren’t good enough, so that’s a main focus.
“It’s going to be an exciting game for us. The boys are looking forward to going there and implementing what we’ve been working on.”
At Tannadice, Brown and co-boss Ryan Strachan will be looking to rotate their squad to maintain some freshness ahead of the league campaign starting on August 5.
He said: “We’ve got to manage the minutes for some of the players.
“Hamish Ritchie played 90 on Saturday which was probably half an hour more than we expected him to.
“Kieran Gibbons will remain out for a couple weeks with an injury and we’ve got an action plan in place to get him back fit again.
“We have to look after the boys and juggle the minutes – because our focus is the league.”