Formartine United manager Paul Lawson insists there is no chance his side will underestimate Dyce when they face the junior side at North Lodge Park in the second round of the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup today.
The two sides met in a friendly last week with Dyce running out 2-1 winners with Alfie Youngson’s side booking their trip to Formartine courtesy of a fine 2-1 win at Deveronvale in the first round on Tuesday.
While Lawson places little stock in a result from a friendly he believes the performance from the visitors will have left a lasting impression on his team.
He said: “We had a good chance to have a look at Dyce in the friendly last week even though both sides made a lot of changes during the game.
“I wasn’t surprised by what I saw from them. They have some very good players and they are set-up well.
“They played well on the night against us and what the friendly has done is make sure every one of our boys knows what they are up against in this game.
“We have a good cup record in recent years and we want to continue that.”
Nick Gray got both goals for Dyce as they made a winning debut in the competition on at Princess Royal Park in Banff.
But a broken toe suffered in the win at Princess Royal Park means he will not be involved against Formartine United today.
However, the striker has backed his team-mates to produce a performance which earn them a place in the semi-final.
He said: “I’m gutted. I won the penalty on Tuesday when the defender hit my foot. I finished the game but was hobbling around on Wednesday and it turns out I’ve broken my toe and will be out for a couple of weeks.
“It’s typical, I felt I did so well on Tuesday then I miss out on the reward of playing Formartine in the next round. It’s a hard one to take but I’m sure we’ve got the boys in the squad who can come in and hopefully record another win.
“We played Formartine in a friendly last week and won 2-1. They had a strong team out but it was one of those games where it was a training game for them and us as a junior are aiming to show we can compete against a Highland League side.
“A few of our lads have played in the Highland League and know what to expect but hopefully we can go and give another account ourselves in this game.”
