The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Brora’ s Campbell left counting cost of Covid call-offs
Craig Campbell hopes Covid isn’t the winner as clubs in the north get ready for a hectic period of league and cup action.
The Brora Rangers assistant boss has been left frustrated as his players have been kicking their heels with the lack of matches due to games being called off as a result of the virus.
The Highland League champions, who brought forward James Wallace back to the club from Morton last week, get started in the Premier Sports Cup away to Montrose this Saturday before taking on Premiership Dundee away next Wednesday. Top-flight
Ross County and League Two side Forfar Athletic are also in Group C and Campbell admits the absence of warm-ups for the Cattachs means they’ll have to use these tough competitive tests to get them in shape for the Highland League kick-off on July 24.
He explained: “Everyone is just looking forward to getting back to a proper season of football. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. People want to just get back to playing games and get the fans back in.
“We thought we were through the worst of it. We had a Covid situation with one of the boys which led to three players isolating for 10 days. We’ve had a couple of friendlies arranged, which have had to be cancelled. The frustrating thing for us is that we’re not really getting any game time for the boys before we go into Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup game against Montrose. We will probably use the Premier Sports Cup as part of our pre-season, so we’re ready for the start of the Highland League. We’re starting competitive games now in early July when we’ve normally not been getting into games until the end of July.”
Last term in what is basically the League Cup but was then called the Betfred Cup, Brora drew with Cove Rangers and Forfar before losing on spot-kicks, pushed Hibs hard before losing 3-1 and lost 2-0 against Dundee. In the competition now called the Premier Sports Cup, Campbell believes his players will be eager to show they can mix with sides from higher tiers, despite it also being used to sharpen up their fitness.
He stressed: “We have a tough group and we’ll be looking to win as many as we can, but we will be using it as part of our preparation, especially as we’ve had trouble getting pre-season friendlies. We didn’t disgrace ourselves in a tough group last season, so we’re looking forward to it again. These are the kind of games that boys want to play in, against teams from a higher level.”