Stoneywood Dyce captain Jamie King is eager to make his return from injury to help the team arrest their current slide.
After a promising start to the start, Stoneywood Dyce have lost their last four games with King absent due to a hip injury.
King tore a muscle in his hip during the Scottish Cup game against Forfarshire at the start of last month – his first serious injury while playing cricket.
He had a brief comeback playing for the second team a fortnight ago, but was advised to rest another week before making a return to the firsts.
The away trip to Falkland this weekend will see King back in the squad and he is eager to play his part.
“It’s been an absolute nightmare to sit and watch the last three or four weeks,” he said. “I’m buzzing to be back.
“We needed some quick runs against Forfarshire and I danced down the wicket and tried to smash Jack Hogarth for six. I missed the ball, was bowled and tore a muscle in my hip swinging at the ball.
“I never miss games of cricket. Most people play through an injury or two, but this is the first time I’ve had a serious injury that kept me out for a period of time.
“It’s been very frustrating and tough to watch. I’m under no illusions that I would have changed the results, but it would have been nice to be out there battling alongside everyone. We go through the good times and tough times together.”
King will be back alongside veterans George Ninan and Jan Stander, who also missed last weekend’s defeat to Forfarshire.
However, Lennard Bester and David Kidd are unavailable, while Jack Lambley is absent with a broken thumb.
“We’ve had to change a settled team and that’s obviously going to cause issues,” said King. “It’s frustrating, but that’s the way amateur sport goes.
“Hopefully we can get back to a stable team again.”
Aberdeenshire captain calls for humility from NE league leaders
Aberdeenshire captain Kenny Reid, meanwhile, believes humility is key to his club finishing the season as winners of the North-East Championship.
Shire lead the way at the top of the division with Meigle, Huntly and Freuchie leading the chase into the second half of the campaign.
With no play possible due to a washout last weekend, Reid insists it is important his side stay grounded as they look to maintain their position.
He said: “We’re in good shape and if we had been offered this position at the start of the season, of course we would have taken it.
“We’re where we want to be, but it is important we keep our feet on the floor. We cannot go into any game thinking we’re going to walk it.
“We must stay humble, keep working hard and focus on producing every Saturday. If we do that, we can achieve our aim of winning the league and reaching the play-off.”
Shire bid to cement place at top of table against Arbroath
Shire welcome ninth-placed Arbroath 2nd XI to Mannofield tomorrow and Reid knows it important his side stay focused.
He said: “You never know how strong a second team is going to be in this league. Some weeks, they can have first team guys available as was the case when we faced Forfarshire earlier in the season.
“We should have still have had enough to win that game, but we didn’t play well and could have no complaints.
“It’s important we concentrate on ourselves. We’re in a good position, the players are training hard and playing well, and we just have to keep going.”
Third-placed Huntly will be aiming to take advantage of any slip by Shire when they travel to fourth-placed Freuchie.
Sixth-placed Gordonians are also on the road as they travel to Forfarshire 2nd XI, who are fifth.
