Hamilton Academical are the visitors to Balmoor this Saturday in William Hill League One.
Hamilton currently sit fifth in the league table after getting off to a good start with two wins from their opening two matches, this was followed by two losses and a draw v Cove Rangers in their last league game at home.
The Blue Toon currently sit seventh in the league table after a frustrating 2-1 loss v Montrose in their last match, however they will be looking to get back to winning ways against John Rankin’s full-time outfit on Saturday.
It’s been a long wait for a competitive match between the two sides as the last encounter was back in January 2001, hear Ryan Strachan’s thoughts on tomorrow’s game: “Back into league action this weekend after a small break for cup duties. This week has been quite refreshing from the point of view we had a relatively comfortable weekend last week, rotated some players needing a rest, played players needing time on pitch, got some really good work in during the week and another week closer to having more members back available for selection. All in all we’ve had a positive week from a footballing perspective.
Tomorrows challenge will be a stern test against full time opposition again, we’ve been quite relentless in our season so far having played 12 competitive games and 9 of them been full time opposition, I suppose thats the level we now face and strive to test against. It doesn’t let up though and tomorrow will be no different. Hamilton results have been up and down but mostly up. We’re under no illusion tomorrow will be extremely difficult as they will possess good running power, strong technical attributes and multiple players that are proven in leagues higher than the current level they play at.
We as a club look forward to these challenges and hopefully the players show up well. We’ve had quite strong home form and hope that continues with the great backing and increased crowds we’ve seen recently home and away. The support goes along way to hopefully sharing a success story.
Team news. Pete continues to recover from shoulder surgery and will be out for the foreseeable. Cieran Dunne will miss as his rehab continues to provide difficulties. Danny Strachan will miss but has started light running on grass which is good. One or two players have had minor knocks during the week or after last weeks game but have recovered and should be fine”.
