Ross County goalkeeper Gary Woods is looking to the heavens for signs of good luck ahead of Sunday’s League Cup final against Hibernian following the birth of his second child last week.
Woods, pictured below, became a father again last Thursday when the 25-year-old’s wife Pia gave birth to his newborn daughter Aurora, whose arrival came just three days before the Aurora Borealis took over the skies above the north of Scotland.
On-loan Leyton Orient goalkeeper Woods will play in Sunday’s match against Championship club Hibs in place of Scott Fox who suffered a knee injury last month, and the Englishman reckons he has already been given a lucky omen.
Woods said: “It has been a hectic week or so for me.
“We’d actually come up with the name Aurora before she was born. My wife liked the name, she wanted to call her that.
“So it was very strange the lights came out just a couple of days later.
“We looked at them and I had loads of people texting me about it as well, everything has all come together perfectly.
“Hopefully it’s a sign for the week ahead and brings good luck for the final.
“It has been a great time for me and hopefully the good news will keep coming in the final.”
County’s form has fluctuated in recent weeks, with three victories and four defeats since their semi-final win against Celtic in January.
Hibs have also suffered a downturn in fortunes in their league campaign, with three straight losses leaving them 14 points behind leaders Rangers in the race for the Championship title.
Woods reckons the past will be irrelevant when the sides meet at Hampden on Sunday, and he added: “They haven’t been in the best of form recently, though you could say that for both teams. But I don’t think that matters when finals come around.
“It’s going to be a very close game, Hibs had been doing really well and then lost a few games.
“We’ve been up and down for a while, so anything could happen. In these big matches, you never know – our semi-final win against Celtic showed that.
“We were a goal down then they got a man sent off before we came back to win 3-1.
“So on these big stages, things happen and it’s impossible to predict the outcome.”
