No boss, no problem insists Blues’ EK star
Stranraer can’t wait to face Aberdeen at Pittodrie Goalwould beacareer highlight admits Malcolm
Mark McGuigan insists Stranraer don’t need a manager to help them face Aberdeen after Brian Reid was sacked just days before their big Scottish Cup tie.
Reid was relieved of his duties as Blues boss on Monday night with Stranraer bottom of League One, following a weekend defeat to relegation rivals Stenhousemuir.
It leaves McGuigan’s side managerless going into one of their biggest games of the season, but the Hairmyres ace reckons it won’t affect their preparations for Pittodrie on Saturday.
He told the News: “It might sound daft, but we don’t need a manager for this game.
“The boys will be well fired up for it anyway and we know the task we face.
“What’s happened won’t change much for us this weekend. It’s a cup game against top opposition and there’s no pressure on us whatsoever.
“It’s a free game, if you like. Nobody is expecting us to do anything, but we are not going there to roll over and get thumped 6-0.
“We want to give a good account of ourselves.
“A good performance there can be a springboard for the rest of our season and a chance to impress whoever is going to come in.”
The Scottish Premiership side enter the competition at the fourth round stage and come into the game off their winter break in Dubai.
For the Blues, however, they go into it off the back of a fortunate victory over East Kilbride in the previous round - where David Proctor’s last minute own-goal was the difference in a 2-1 win - and a run of five defeats in their last seven league games.
“If we are going to have any chance, we know we can’t afford to play the way we did against East Kilbride,” McGuigan admitted.
“East Kilbride acquitted themselves well and were unfortunate to lose out to a late goal. “But we’ll raise our game for Aberdeen. “This is a good distraction for us to play at a cracking stadium against a top side.
“Unfortunately for our fans we’ve not played at our best all season, so we want to nip that in the bud.
“We’ve worked hard to get to this stage. Now we want to enjoy the game and put in a performance.” Stranraer striker Craig Malcolm admits Aberdeen will need to have an off day for his side to stand any chance of a Scottish Cup upset.
The 30-year-old, from Gardenhall, and fellow East Kilbride native Mark McGuigan are aiming to help the Blues to the fifth round.
In the last two seasons they’ve crashed out to Premiership sides at this stage, losing 3-0 at home to both Celtic in 2016 and Dundee United in 2015 – when the Terrors were still in the top flight.
So Malcolm knows the size of the task the Blues face.
He said: “In our games against Celtic and Dundee United we’ve started well and that’s important on Saturday.
“When you play the big teams the plan is always not to concede early on and see out the first 15-20 minutes without conceding.
“We need to be tight at the back and not lose an early goal. The longer that goes on the more our hope will build and, hopefully, we can get them on the break.
“Everybody would bite your hand off for a draw right now, so that shows you the task we are facing.
“It’s going to be a very tough game, especially going up to Pittodrie.
“We need them to have a bad day at the office and hope we can get a bit of luck.”
Malcolm is Stranraer’s top scorer this season with 11 goals in 23 appearances.
He is closing in on 100 goals for the club and would need a hattrick against the Dons to reach that milestone.
He said: “I doubt that will happen, but to score a goal up there would be one of the best moments in my career.”
Saturday’s match is a 3pm kickoff.