DUNDEE VISIT THRILLS BOSS
The perfect start for Albion
Stirling Albion manager Dave Mackay is relishing the prospect of facing the club where he began his career when Dundee visit in the Betfred Cup on Saturday.
The Binos take on the Group D favourites to kick off 2018/19 then welcome Brechin City to Forthbank on Tuesday, July 17, kick-off 7.45pm.
Matchday three sees Albion head for Balmoor to play Peterhead on Saturday, July 21. They are the odd team out on matchday four on July 24 before facing Dunfermline Athletic at East End Park on Saturday, July 28.
Only the eight group winners and four best runners-up join Celtic, Aberdeen, Rangers and Hibernian in the last 16 on Saturday, August 18.
Albion haven’t beaten Dundee since October 1978 when Stuart Heggie scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for Alex Smith’s men at Annfield in a season when Tommy Gemmell’s team went on to clinch the First Division title.
The sides haven’t met since the Dark Blues won a Scottish Cup clash 2-1 at Forthbank in November 2011 and it will be a poignant occasion following the news on Sunday of the death of Dundee’s legendary striker Alan Gilzean.
Mackay said: “It’s a great game to start the season – I’m sure there will be a big crowd and another sunny day.
“Dundee were the club who gave me my big break so I’ll always be grateful. I had a great time at Dens and was there with the likes of Claudio Caniggia and Fabrizio Ravanelli which was incredible.
“I’ve got some great memories. I played in the Scottish Cup final in 2003 when I was directly up against current Dundee manager Neil McCann, who was playing on the left wing for Rangers.”
Stirling went into last night’s closed-door friendly with Raith Rovers unbeaten in four pre-season games and Mackay is happy with how his squad are shaping up.
Jordan Allan and Peter MacDonald scored in a 2-0 win over Stranraer on Saturday and Stirling limited their League 1 opponents to only a few chances at Stair Park.
Mackay said: “We played well, especially for the first hour or so. After that the game was broken up a bit with all the substitutions but the young guys who came on did well.”
Defender Darren Barr will miss the Dundee game as he requires minor knee surgery and it’s unlikely the operation will take place for another couple of weeks, with a recovery time of around a month before he can return to action.
Last season’s top scorer Darren Smith has a back problem and Saturday will be too soon but summer signing Mark Stewart is expected to be fit.
Admission prices against Dundee are £12 for adults, £8 seniors and students, £5 for U16s and free for U12s. Kickoff is the usual 3pm.
If the game ends in a draw after 90 minutes, it will go straight to penalties, with the winners of the shoot-out awarded a bonus point.
Albion welcome Brechin City to Forthbank on Tuesday, the third year in a row the teams have been paired together at this stage – City were 2-1 winners at Glebe Park in 2016 but Stirling won 2-0 at Forthbank 12 months ago.