Stranraer boss Stevie sends a warning to the Highland shock troops
Brora Rangers have been warned their miracle feat of giant-killing against Hearts has inspired EVERY club left in the Scottish Cup – including their next opponents.
Stevie Farrell, manager of Stranraer, admits he fully expected to be taking his team east to Tynecastle next Saturday afternoon. Instead, thanks to the Highlander’s achievement last week they will instead be making the 600-mile round trip to Dudgeon Park.
And while he accepts that the hosts’ confidence will sky-high, he argues they have opened the door to the last-16 for his team as well as themselves.
“I think the first thing to say is Brora’s win has to be right up there in terms of the biggest Cup shocks of all time because of the fact they hadn’t been playing,” said Farrell.
“In all the big ones of the past that wasn’t the case. What you had was two teams meeting each other in the middle of a normal season. “The very fact that a Highland League team have beaten Hearts off the back of playing eight games in a calendar year, with the last being some three months ago, makes it an unbelievable achievement.
“We were playing against Brechin and obviously you hear the mutterings that Brora had taken the lead. “Hearts equalise and then you think they will go on a win it now.
“But then you get the news that it finished 2-1 to Brora! “This is a Hearts team who are running away with the Championship and are going to be playing in the Premier League next year.
“So we will be taking Brora very seriously indeed, not least because they knocked us out of the competition four years ago!
“But their achievement is also inspiring for us – and, I imagine, for every other team in the competition.”
Not least, Farrell reckons, because of the effect the 2020-21 season has had on Scottish football.
“This season has been amazing and a big reason has been the unpredictability of the results,” he said. “Without fans there, teams don’t have the same home advantage and you are getting quite a few big teams turned over.
“The League Cup is a great example. For St Johnstone and Livingston to both win their way through to the Final in the same season was a fairytale. “And now, because of Brora’s fantastic result, we have to prepare to play them instead of Hearts and we will do everything we can to do that.
“They at home and they are strong there but this will be a very different occasion for them.
“To go from the highs of playing – and beating – Hearts to a tie against Stranraer, and I say that with the greatest of respect to my own club, will be quite a change for them. “If we play the way we have been doing in our league, I am confident we will certainly give ourselves a chance in the tie.”