Sabri and Shakoor in Titwood return
Derby day in the west throws up a series of potentially pivotal fixtures, among them the Titwood meeting of Clydesdale and Poloc.
More than the southside bragging rights are up for grabs, with both sides also desperate to rekindle their title challenge following disappointing recent results.
Clydesdale, having suffered back-to-back defeats, felt in a strong position at Uddingston last week until the weather denied them the chance to cash in.
Poloc have also lost twice in a row in the league though the Shawholm side bounced back strongly with an impressive Scottish Cup win over Ferguslie on Sunday.
Today’s match is given added intrigue by the appearance in the visiting ranks of Abdul Sabri and Akram Shakoor, two players who surprisingly defected from Titwood after helping Dale win the double last season.
Sabri and Shakoor are among a number of new faces at Poloc this season and home manager Colin Mitchell believes strength in depth gives his derby rivals the edge.
He said: “I think given the squad that Poloc have assembled most people would expect them to push for the league. But we don’t want to be concerned about their personnel – we’d rather concentrate on continuing the development of our young side.”
Clydesdale are without Calum Drummond, who has university commitments at Loughborough, paving the way for Shreyas Chitnis to return. Poloc must do without their consistent captain Craig Young who has a knee injury and Azeem Dar comes in, while player-coach Jurie Snyman will skipper the team.
East Kilbride’s Torrance House clash with Uddingston is another which features two players who swapped allegiances during the closeseason. This time last year Ross Lyons and Harmanjit Singh played a pivotal role in EK’S title bid but now they are attempting to propel Uddingston back to the top of the table after their tenure was cut short by last week’s rain.
New Leaders Prestwick willbidtostaytherebybeating Ayr at the Henry Thow Oval, while bottom-ofthe-table Kelburne face Ferguslie at Whitehaugh, and Greenock make the journey to Dumfries.