SORRY PAL, THIS IS WAR Holmes will put friendship aside for Hurlford crunch
Wishaw Juniors manager Derek Holmes is relishing his side’s historic Scottish Junior Cup semi-final draw against Hurlford that will see him take on former playing partner Darren Henderson in the dugout.
Wishaw have been drawn against the West Premier Division side for the two-legged tie, with the first leg taking place at the Beltane on the weekend of April 14 and 15.
Holmes and Henderson were playing partners at Ross County and have kept a close friendship ever since.
But the Wishaw gaffer insists he will put that to one side when the clubs go toe to toe in pursuit of a place in the final.
Holmes told the Press: “Myself and Darren go back a long way to our days at County.
“My wee boy plays for Kilmarnock, so I often catch up with him over a coffee when I’m over there. We discussed the draw and have had a good talk about it since.
“We’re meeting up this weekend and we’ll be friendly then but after that he’ll take care of his business and I’ll take care of mine.
“Then for 90 minutes, we’ll go to war. Hopefully we’re still pals after that!”
The manager also warned Hurlford not to understimate his team, after they upset the odds to beat another Premier Division side, Kirkintilloch Rob Roy, to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1935.
He said: “It’s going to be tough but we’ve got to be in the tie after the first leg.
“We’re underdogs once again. We’ve got nothing to lose and even though everyone said Rob Roy were going to batter us, we proved that we’re not to be underestimated.”
Holmes suffered his first defeat in charge of Wishaw on Saturday when the club lost 3-1 to Cumnock Juniors in the first round of the West of Scotland Cup.
He was still happy enough with the performance from his much-changed side and hopes their momentum will not suffer going into two more cup weekends.
He said: “I made seven changes to the starting line-up because the boys on the bench and in the squad deserve their chance, too.
“Everyone has been training really well and the boys who played against Cumnock did exceptionally well.
“It wasn’t a 3-1 game. If we’d taken our chances, we would have won comfortably and their goals were all down to basic errors.”
Holmes is also confident his players