Peterhead make the journey to Somerset Park on Tuesday night as they take on Ayr United in the knockout stage of the KDM Evolution Trophy.
It promises to be a stern test for the Blue Toon. Scott Brown’s Ayr side are flying high, sitting fourth in the Championship and unbeaten in their last four outings. The Honest Men will be eager to extend that run and progress further in the competition.
After a heavy defeat to Alloa Athletic at the weekend, the Blue Toon will be looking to respond however it will be a difficult challenge for the part-timers against full-time opposition in another mid-week away game in this KDM Trophy tournament.
From Ryan Strachan: “After the disappointment of the weekend’s result against Alloa, we now focus entirely on rebounding and putting in a better, more respectable away performance against a team fighting for promotion to the Premier League, We’ve demonstrated that we were competitive down there last season and at home the previous year already. The games don’t get any easier for us and we’re learning, sometimes the hard way, in what is proving to be a difficult period for all involved. The players are trying their hardest to try and gain some away form but for a multitude of reasons, we can’t quite pinpoint the exact reason why on the road has been more challenging than expected. There are factors we’re constantly reviewing and it’s only fair to share some angles we’re looking at with supporters who face the same frustration we have at this moment – pitch sizes are causing us some issues, some of the higher end team’s speed on transitions offensively are a problem, also the fact we’ve met a wee dump in confidence/form hasn’t helped the timing. It’s important our players remind themselves they are capable, very talented in their own rights and deserve to be playing at this level week in week out; something we constantly assure them of. In any sport, there are always highs and lows and please believe we’re doing our utmost to come out of this period as soon as possible. Rome wasn’t built in a day and it’s something the players and staff just need to take a moment and remind that only 3 weeks ago we were 4th place and we’re still only a couple points off top 4, yet we feel internally like some bombs have went off. The timing of tomorrow’s match is far from ideal but we must use it as a break from the league like we did against Championship side Morton last week going right to the wire. Some of our players have been playing battered and bruised so they need reviewed and it’s also an opportunity to work on away form, some players will be given the opportunity to stake a claim for a place in the team on Saturday.
Team news is very difficult at this stage to comment 48hrs post game, we’ve a number of players definitely out through injury and or suspension, some also face late decisions depending on how they recover today and tomorrow. Irrespective of who plays and who doesn’t we need to see some improvement away from home and we hope to get that confidence back tomorrow”.
