The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Loons out to tame Lions after seeing off St Johnstone
“If we can beat St Johnstone, why can’t be beat Livingston?
“That’s what I’ll be trying to get through to my players,” Forfar manager Jim Weir admitted ahead of his team’s last 16 Betfred Cup clash with the Premiership side this afternoon.
The Loons fought their way through to the knockout stage of the competition the hard way and this is no time to approach a game with trepidation.
But that doesn’t mean Weir is oblivious to the size of the task at Station Park.
“If we’re being honest, we were playing St Johnstone at a good time,” he reflected. This is probably going to be a tougher game because Livingston are ahead of them a bit at this stage.
“We had them watched last weekend when they played in Perth and they were excellent. After going 2-0 up they would have expected to win the game.
“They’ve got some really good players and have a lot of height in their team, which is something we haven’t really faced. We’re expecting a really tough game.
“What we’re hoping for is spells in the game – like the start we got against St Johnstone. And when they’re on top, we’ll have to defend very well.”
Weir admitted that a money-spinning tie would have been his first choice when the draw was made – but they’ll have to get through the quarter-finals to secure one.
“East Fife got Rangers, which was obviously a great draw,” he said.
“The directors have given me great support in building the squad and I’d love to get through another round.”
“It’s been a while since there has been a good cup run at Forfar. It’s been a great achievement to get out of a group with two Premiership teams and now we’ll try to go one step further.”
Forfar lost to Montrose in the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Cup in midweek but today is the priority tie and Weir rested six players at Links Park.
Darren Whyte will miss out with a hamstring injury and could be sidelined for two to three weeks, while Mark Docherty is a doubt because of illness.
Livingston boss Gary Holt may give new signing Jon Guthrie his debut after the defender arrived earlier this week.
Holt is aware of the threat the Loons pose. He said: “They are well drilled and they have had a great start to the season, they have beaten Premiership opposition already.”