The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Loons and City could be separated by ‘just one piece of magic’
Forfar Athletic meet Edinburgh City in a Scottish Cup second round replay at Station Park tonight – and Loons manager Gary Bollan will accept progression to the next round and a trip to East Fife ahead of a top performance.
The sides face each other for the third time in 10 days after their first cup tie ended goalless and Saturday’s League Two encounter was drawn 1-1.
Unsurprisingly, Bollan said: “There was very little between the sides in either game.
“This one will be really tight and it could well be that just one piece of magic will separate the sides and hopefully that will come from a Forfar player.”
The Loons have not won in five games after a stunning run of nine consecutive successes.
Bollan added:“We know that we have not played at our best in recent games. It would be great to go back to the style we were showing just over a month ago. However, teams are making things very difficult for us and we need to work even harder than we did when we were winning.
“Saturday’s match told us nothing new, so it could well be that this one becomes a war of attrition with neither side willing to give anything up.
“If that happens and we find a way to win 1-0 then I will accept it as progression to the next round is all that matters.”
Former Dundee defender Greg Warwick, who played as a trialist at the weekend, is not eligible to feature, though full-back Jamie Bain returns from a ban and Murray Mackintosh is available after attending a family wedding at the weekend.
The Meadowbank Stadium side have not recorded a win in the 16 games they have played as a senior side, but manager Gary Jardine and his squad are far from downcast.
He said: “In the first Scottish Cup game we kept our first clean sheet since our play-off win over East Stirling.
“On Saturday we created a lot of problems for Forfar so a win is not that far away.
“It would be great to get it in this game as it would give us a boost for the league.”
John Dunn is suspended while Nico Gibson is out injured.