The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Fine start puts a new slant on cup for Gable Endies
Montrose boss Stewart Petrie is maintaining his mantra that the Betfred Cup group games are vital for his players to find form and fitness, writes Neil Robertson.
However, their blistering start to the competition has now put a slightly different slant on things.
The Gable Endies backed up their opening-day win at the home of Championship outfit Falkirk with another one-goal victory and clean sheet against East Fife in midweek.
Those results have put them in pole position in Group B, with a great chance of making it into the next round.
However, Petrie is taking nothing for granted – especially with his side’s toughest test to date looming large, with the visit of Tommy Wright’s Premiership outfit St Johnstone to Links Park this afternoon.
Petrie said: “We made several changes against East Fife and a lot of lads got minutes under their belts, which is important at this stage of the season.
“It is all about building up fitness and form so we are as prepared and ready as possible when we face Arbroath in our League 1 opener in August.
“However, it is always good to get wins and clean sheets which are vitally important for goalies and defenders.
“We didn’t expect to go to the home of a full-time Championship side and win but we did, and the East Fife result now puts a different slant on things in the Betfred for us,” he added.
“We still have two tough fixtures coming up, and I always said it would be a big ask for the lads playing four matches in just 11 days.
“But we are really looking forward to the visit of Tommy’s team on Saturday.
“St Johnstone have been a regular top-six Premiership side who have also played in Europe in recent seasons, and it will be great for our players and the management team to pit our wits against them.”
Petrie is also keen that the Betfred Cup games do not come at a cost in terms of injuries, with a few players already carrying knocks ahead of the Saints game.
The manager added: “We will definitely have Jamie Redman and Liam Callaghan out, while there are doubts over several others.
“That is another important aspect of these games – that we don’t pick up injuries.
“We had around nine sitting in the stand for last season’s league opener at Edinburgh City and we certainly do not want a repeat of that.”