Swifts prepared for league rivals Linlithgow
Jeanfield Swifts manager Ross Gunnion is hoping to take advantage of Linlithgow Rose’s indifferent start to the season.
The teams meet at the Riverside tomorrow afternoon with only four points separating them in the East of Scotland League’s Premier Division.
Linlithgow knocked Swifts out of the Scottish Cup earlier this season but Gunnion will always back his players to perform against the West Lothian side.
“Linlithgow have had an indifferent season by their standards,”he told the PA ahead of the 1.45pm kick-off.
“They have probably been below the standards being set by their committee.
“At this moment in time I think they are still trying to find their feet in terms of how they want to play under their new manager Brown Ferguson.
“There’s a lot of boys playing for their career at the club, never mind just playing for places. But they are a good team and I’ve always rated them.
“The Scottish Cup game with Linlithgow wasn’t a true reflection and it was a lot closer than the scoreline suggested.
“Over the past few years, we’ve held our own and certainly had our fair share of victories over them. I don’t see Saturday being any different.
“If we play the way we can, I genuinely believe we’re a better team than Linlithgow.”
Swifts, who will hold a collection for the local food bank on Saturday, have been left idle from competitive action for four weeks now due to frozen and waterlogged pitches.
Gunnion said:“We’re not the only ones but we can’t seem to find a run of games because of the weather.
“We’re four weeks without a competitive game.
“It’s fine because players recover from injury but, on the back of that, they are not match sharp.
“We had a friendly on Monday down at Dunipace so that got everyone some more game-time. We’re trying to keep boys ticking over.”
East of Scotland Conference A men Kinnoull face an inter-conference trip to high-flyers Tynecastle of Edinburgh.
The capital side have won all 16 of their league matches this term, netting more than 100 goals in the process and conceding just 13.
Kinnoull manager Alan Cameron says his players will be going into the game with no fear, despite their hosts’ impressive record to date.
“They have pretty much got that conference tied up already, having only played half of the games,”he told the Perthshire Advertiser.
“They will be very strong and are really good going forward. They don’t concede or give much away at the back either.
“But we should have, near enough, a full squad for the game and we’ll give it our best go.
“We’ve been doing okay and, as I said when we moved to the East of Scotland League, these are the games you want to play in.”