Peterhead host Elgin City this afternoon in their first foray into the SPFL Trust Trophy this season with Blue Toon manager Jim McInally able to list a ‘good’ number of reasons why his side will be motivated to win. Firstly, last Saturday’s win over Kelty Hearts has given everyone connected with the club a lift and the Balmoor boss is keen for that feeling to continue as he explained: “We had been on a difficult run and, whilst the mood within the camp remained good as there were reasons for how things were, it was not as high as it could have been.” “Getting the three points last weekend brought everything up a bit and you could see that in training. I mentioned Conor O’Keefe scoring a terrific goal in training last week. He took that into last Saturday’s game and scored two great goals. He came into training this week and scored another wonder strike.” “Confidence is a great thing to have and the more games you win the higher your confidence grows.” Jim added: “We want to build on that feel good factor against Elgin. It will not be easy as they are a good side and one that scores a lot of goals. Kane Hester gets a lot of attention, as he finds the net regularly, however there are plenty of other good players there like Brian Cameron who has been terrific for years at Elgin.” Jim will need to recast his starting line-up from the one that saw off Kelty and he believes that can help bring the performance required to progress as he explained: “We will have a reduced squad for this one but all the players know that tough competition for a starting jersey is coming soon. The best way to have a starting jersey is to have one, and play well enough to keep it, so the players who face Elgin have that opportunity.” There are also a few club issues that Jim sees as motivators as he continued: “The clubs have a long history of facing each other in the Highland League and then in the Scottish Leagues. There is a rivalry there so we know that the fans will be expecting us to go out for a win especially as Elgin won a friendly between us in the summer.” “There are also players who have played for both clubs. We have Andy McDonald and Conor O’Keefe who were at Elgin recently and they have Owen Cairns who was here last season. Players being players will want to defeat a former club so as I have said there are lots of reasons for wanting to win this one.”
Team News: A full team of players is unavailable for the Blue Toon this afternoon due to a plethora of issues. On-loan Aberdeen goalkeeper Tom Ritchie is cup-tied so Sandy Wood will deputise with Robbie McGale dropping out after dislocating a shoulder in training this week. Ryan Dow is not being risked due to an achilles issue and his absence takes the injury list, which already has Ewan Murray, Andrew McCarthy, Hamish Ritchie, Russell McLean and Ola Adeyemo on it, up to seven. Clearance has still not arrived for Enock Walusimbi and Loran Venrooy with Ramez Hefzalla missing out again due to international duty with the Egyptian under-20 team. The good news is that Max Gillies is available again after a head knock and Christiano Kisuka is free to play as his suspension for his red-card last weekend will be served in the league.
Attending the game: Peterhead FC do not operate a cash at turnstile facility. The club ticket office is located in the car park adjacent to main entrance at Balmoor Stadium. Ticket prices are as follows: GROUND Adult £15 Concessions £8 U13’s FOC (if accompanied by an adult) EAST & MAIN STANDS Adult £17 Concessions £10 U13’s £2
