Buffs boss vows to handle injury Strain and fire top
KILWINNING Rangers manager Chris Strain insists his side will be raring to go in tomorrow’s top of the table clash with Auchinleck Talbot despite having a number of key players posted missing.
Second-top Buffs head for Beechwood Park knowing a victory over fourth-place Talbot will enable them to see out 2017 at the summit of the Super Premier Division pile and hard working gaffer Strain is urging his playing charges to celebrate that milestone.
He said: “It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often and it’s important to go there and have a go because setting our stall up to play things tight and hit on the break is just inviting trouble against a team like Auchinleck.
“Points have never been easy to come by at Beechwood but this is a game that hinges on us managing to ask more questions of their defence than they do of ours.
“Keeping them at bay for 90 minutes is a big ask with Talbot having one of the top dawer Junior strikers in Graham Wilson whose partnership with Jamie Glasgow has yielded a lot of goals of late but I’m pretty sure Craig Pettigrew will relish the prospect of shutting the back door against his old team.
“Bryan Boylan in tandem with Ryan Nisbet provide our own attacking threat and they are not exactly shrinking violets when it comes to scoring .
“The one unfortunate aspect is that Carlo Monti has been nursing an ankle injury and is unlikely to last the full game but just getting an hour or so out of him could make the difference.”
KILWINNING’S need for match fitness led to Strain arranging a weekend friendly with Irvine Meadow which they won 3-0 thanks to goals from Boylan (2) and Steven Hill.
But the gaffer was then left frustrated as an intended mid- week workout against Largs Thistle was called off .
He said: “Wednesday afternoon’s cancellation was far from ideal and we had little choice other than to bring the guys in for a training session to keep them ticking over.
“The Largs game had been specifically arranged to try out different permutations as Finlay Frye, Michael Wardrope and Jamie Whyte are all unavailable tomorrow because of other commitments on top of a suspension ruling out James Latta, who is disappointed [to miss facing his former side] but Petty is looking forward to going back and not because he has anything to prove.”
Auchinleck boss Tommy Sloan owned up to having no selection concerns as such now that last weekend’s 2-0 Scottish Cup triumph over Hill O’Beath signalled the end of a two-match suspension imposed on centreback Craig McCracken who hasn’t played for six weeks.
He said: “Craig is champing at the bit to play again but he’s been out a long time and has also been nursing an injury so we’ll see if there’s any reaction to his return to training this week before making any decision on him.”
The Super Premier title threat posed by a resurgent Kilwinning was acknowledged by Tucker in saying
“Chris has his side playing with a decent level of consistency and their early exits from the two main Cup competitions could prove to be a bonus.
“There’s no doubting the goal threat in his team and we have to defend well in order to counter it and try to pick up the points.”