Wishaw hope to finally get cup tie on this weekend

Wishaw will on Saturday try to finally get their Ardagh Group West of Scotland Cup first round tie played, at home to Johnstone Burgh.

A raft of postponements and a fire at their Beltane Park clubhouse have meant the game will be staged on Saturday (weather-permitting), less than 20 days before the next round.

Wishaw will hope to join county rivals Blantyre Vics, Newmains United, Lanark United and Royal Albert in the second round, and should they progress, they will be at home to Renfrew on Saturday, January 11.

Boss Mark Daly says the tie is a chance for his players to show their mettle when the promotionchasing League Two side visit the Beltane.

“It will be a tough game against Johnstone Burgh, they are doing well in the league below, and it should be a good test to show where we are,”said Daly.

“They are a decent outfit, but we are not going to have a team below us turn up at our place and roll us over – we won’t make it easy for them.

“It should be a good indication of what we need to work on for the league.

“The big thing we will take away from it is building momentum towards the league campaign.

“We know that it won’t be ideal at this time of year, but we want to get some wins together.”

Wishaw were idle at the weekend but held a friendly against Kilsyth Rangers, drawing 2-2.

Mark said:“it was a good exercise for us. There isn’t much we can do about the weather at this time of year, but you want to get as many minutes as possible, to keep your fitness up.

“It was played in poor conditions towards the final 15 minutes, but I can see we have good players.”

In the Championship this Saturday, Blantyre Vics are at Neilston.

Five games in the Championship have three county sides at home, as Carluke Rovers entertain Ardrossan Winton Rovers, Lanark host Kello Rovers, and Glasgow Perthshire are at Lesmahagow.

Royal Albert are Girvan-bound, while Larkhall Thistle are at Greenock.

Forth Wanderers visit Maybole, while Newmains host St Anthony’s and Thorniewood United entertain Saltcoats Vics in League 2.

Wishaw’s cup game is at 1.30pm, all others are 1.45pm.