Honest toil’s needed and we’ll deliver
Irvine (Meadow) and then it was pretty much straight on to the park but I love it.
“Thankfully I have been on holiday this week so I could prepare for the game.
“Some people might think that would make me the fittest player at the club but the gaffer might disagree!”
It’s not the first big Scottish Cup draw for Auchinleck having faced Hearts in 2012.
They held their own for 84 minutes in Gorgie before Hearts finally broke the deadlock.
But Pope looked to have salvaged a stunning lifeline in injury time, only to see the goal harshly ruled out for offside. He said: “I was devastated at the time but it was a special day.
“To say I was pretty involved in that game would be an understatement! I gave away a penalty, which thankfully they missed, then I scored a goal that was chalked off.
“I still think I was onside, I was absolutely raging. But looking back it was a great experience. We took the third or fourth biggest away crowd to Tynecastle that season.
“Now we have a chance for us to make up for that loss.”
Pope was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup. AYR striker Craig Moore insists nothing about Auchinleck can scare his streetwise team-mates.
The Honest Men are preparing to enter the lions’ den at Beechwood Park in the Scottish Cup.
The junior venue carries a fearsome reputation as a graveyard for the faint of heart but Moore insists Ayr will revel in the challenge.
He said: “No one at Ayr is mollycoddled, the majority of the guys here are old school.
“We all know what to expect from Auchinleck. If the ball is there to be won and we’re there too then both will be taken.
“But we can look after ourselves as well.
“The fans will be right on top of us and the home fans won’t be mincing their words from the sidelines.
“Good. It will add to a tremendous atmosphere.”
Ayr defeated another junior side Beith in the last round but have won only one in six since then.
Moore said: “Talbot will fancy their chances. We’ll hopefully take care of it.” ANDY DALES isn’t fazed about making his Dundee debut in a Scottish Cup scrap – after experiencing everything in non-league football down south.
The on-loan Scunthorpe winger could be pitched in against Championship side Queen of the South today at Dens.
The 24-year-old came through the divisions with minnows Mickelover Sports before joining League One Scunthorpe.
And Dales reckons that was perfect preparation for the tricky cup tie.
He said: “I’m ready for anything after non-league.
“You see some sights in non-league football. It’s a lot different and tough.
“Sometimes you go to places where the showers are freezing – deliberately – or somewhere else where the heating is on full blast.
“It has made me want it more because I don’t want to go back to that level.”
Dales spent some of last summer training at Jamie Vardy’s academy, which specialises in promoting non-league players.
England striker Vardy even gave him some pointers and Dales said: “He told us he started where we were and worked his way up.”
Queens striker Stephen Dobbie is out to complete a hat-trick of cup wins over Dundee – but the 36-yearold will be happy to be overshadowed again.
He said: “We won a replay at Palmerston on penalties in 2007 after I’d scored a couple of goals.
“A year later I scored a good goal against Dundee but no one remembers it after Ryan McCann’s strike from about 84 yards!”