Lawson does his research

Formartine United gaffer Paul Lawson will call on former Cove Rangers players Daniel Park and Darryn Kelly to plot EK’s Scottish Cup downfall.

Park and Kelly helped sink Kilby in the SPFL play-offs last season and now ply their trade at North Lodge Park.

They are set to line-up against EK on Saturday when the Lowland League side take on United in round three of the Scottish Cup.

Highland League Formartine knocked out Lowland side Gala Fairydean in the last round and gaffer Lawson, the former Ross County and Celtic youth midfielder, said:“Parky and Darryn are both former Cove players, so we’ll definitely speak to them about East Kilbride to get their thoughts, as well as doing our own homework.

“The teams are very evenly matched and both will feel they should be doing better in their leagues. We’ve been inconsistent but having home advantage is always a bonus.

“It will still be a difficult game.” Lawson is also looking forward to catching up with an old team-mate, in Kilby defender Craig Reid.

He added: “I used to play with Craig Reid when he was at Motherwell and, in our younger days, at Celtic, so it will be good to catch-up with him – but friends go out of the window for 90 minutes in these games.

“This is a great opportunity for both teams to progress and potentially draw a big name.

“We’ve had East Kilbrdie watched a couple of times. They’ve lost their manager since then, but with Jim being part of the old management team anyway, I’m not sure that will change things much.

“It will come down to the players because they’ll see it as a good chance to get a big name out of the hat.”