Albion head for the Highlands

Feb 3 2010 by Donald Morton, Stirling Observer Wednesday

STIRLING Albion head for Dingwall on Saturday bidding to reach the last eight of the Scottish Cup for the first time in 20 years.

Not since 1989/90, when a kind draw helped John Brogan’s men progress, have the Binos ventured to the quarter-finals of the competition. Back then, they deserved better than to lose narrowly to Clydebank in a replay and victory this weekend would be a huge achievement.

Stirling have already knocked out Auchinleck Talbot and Albion Rovers but face a stiff test against a County team who warmed up for the cup clash by beating Division One leaders Dundee at Dens Park and can go top if they win their games in hand.

Derek Adams’ side coasted past Highland League Inverurie Locos 4-0 in the previous round and are strong favourites to see off an Albion team who last played at Victoria Park in the Second Division campaign of 1999/00, winning 3-1 then losing 5-1 later in the season.

Positive

Binos boss Allan Moore (pictured) said: “We have to go up there and be positive. It’s a hard game but you always have a chance. Earlier in the season we were the better team against Dundee in the Challenge Cup and the only difference was that Leigh Griffiths took a couple of chances.

“The league is the priority this season but getting to the quarter-finals of the cup would be massive for us. If we manage to get them back to our place for a replay then that would be a good result,” added Moore, whose side would welcome County to Forthbank on Tuesday, February 16 if that scenario unfolds.

Stirling head to the Highlands without a number of key players. Midfielder Stewart Devine is set to miss the rest of the season as he requires surgery on a double hernia while fellow midfielder Chris Aitken is cup-tied from his time with Ayr United.

Falkirk Amateurs frontman Derek Colquhoun, who featured as a trialist in the 3-3 draw with East Fife on January 23, is still a signing target but no deal is imminent and trialists are not permitted in the Scottish Cup.

And striker Martin Grehan left the club on Friday to sign for Partick Thistle in a deal thought to be worth around £10,000. The former Motherwell man almost moved to Raith Rovers in the summer but opted to stay and is Albion’s leading league scorer with seven goals.

Bench

Jags gaffer Ian McCall, who left Grehan on the bench for Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Inverness CT, said: “We've signed Martin for a couple of years and, although we hope he will go into the team and score goals straight away, we are really going to use the next three months to bed him in at the club and get him used to full-time football again.”

Grehan is a player who can make things happen and his loss could be keenly felt. Moore said: “We didn’t want to lose Martin but we can’t stand in his way. It’s a chance for him and I hope he does well but it does leave us short up front. Michael Mullen isn’t at full fitness at the moment and is perhaps better suited as an impact player and we lost Bryan Prunty to Alloa.”

Moore was at Recreation Park to see Prunty have a spectacular overhead kick harshly disallowed before he grabbed a 95th-minute winner against Arbroath to lift The Wasps above Albion and into second in the table, with the Binos idle due to a frozen pitch at Cowdenbeath.

The Central Park showdown was hastily rearranged for last night (Tuesday), only to fall victim to the weather again and the postponement of Saturday’s home game with Arbroath due to the Scottish Cup means Stirling now have six fixtures to catch up on – the others are at home to Stenhousemuir and Peterhead and away to Alloa and Brechin.

Meanwhile, Albion were linked with a loan move for Motherwell duo Darren Smith and Jonathan Page as the transfer window closed at midnight on Monday.

Smith (21) is a forward who has played around 50 first-team games for the SPL side but has been out of the picture this term while defender Page (20) next week, made a couple of appearances under Jim Gannon in the early part of this season.

New Motherwell boss Craig Brown is happy to give the players game time elsewhere but the pair are keen to stay and fight for their place. However, should there be a change of heart, either or both could be signed on an emergency loan of between 28 and 93 days outwith the transfer window.