July 15th 2024
FORM team Inverurie Locos are at Station Park this weekend with Neil Cooper's men going into this match having not lost a Highland League fixture for over six weeks. That run has taken them up to third in the current standings and a win in this one could hoist them to second spot on goal difference if Fraserburgh lose their away fixture at Turriff United. It has been an impressive turnaround for Cooper's men, who lost their two of their opening three league encounters in defeats at Formartine United and Rothes. Since then though, the Harlaw Park club have stacked up the points and they will arrive at Station Park in fine fettle having clocked up an impressive 4-0 victory away at Clachnacuddin in their last away fixture. A goalless draw at home to Turriff United in midweek will have disappointed Cooper given his side's dominance of the fixture and the former Aberdeen youth coach will be targeting three points from this one to boost their chances of consolidating their place in the top three with Brora Rangers breathing down their necks. Nairn returned to winning ways last weekend by easing to a 2-0 success away at Strathspey Thistle last Saturday. Ronnie Sharp saw his side pass up a number of chances to make the margin of victory more impressive and will need his forwards to be considerably sharper in front of goal if he wants to see County add to their points tally this weekend. If you cannot make it along to Station Park to support the team then you can follow updates from the match through the official Nairn County social media channels. All you have to do is logon to facebook.com/nairncountyfc or @NairnCounty on Twitter before kick-off and you will be able to receive notifications of team lines, updates on all of the major talking points as they happen throughout the match, a report on the final whistle and reaction from the Nairn camp on Saturday evening. A preview of the match is below: Date: Saturday October 28th 2017 Competition: Scottish Highland Football League Kick-off: 1500 Opponents: Inverurie Loco Works Manager: Neil Cooper Venue: Station Park, Nairn Previous meeting: Inverurie Locos 1 Nairn County 0 April 15th 2017 Last time out: Strathspey Thistle 0 Nairn County 2; Inverurie Locos 0 Turriff United 0 League position: Nairn County 10th Inverurie Locos 3rd Form guides: Nairn County WLWLLW Inverurie Locos LWWWWD Team news: It is a threadbare squad that Ronnie Sharp has to select from for this match with a number of absentees. Gregg Main remains on the injury list with a long term knee problem that he hopes to get to the bottom of over the next fortnight while Callum Maclean suffered a minor setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury and will again miss out. Liam MacDonald is involved with his parent club Inverness CT in the Scottish Youth Cup this weekend, so will sit this one out while fellow midfielders Ewen Urquhart and Adam Naismith both have work commitments. Max Ewan is attending a wedding while Ryan Macleod and Craig Munro are out on a month-long loan to North Caledonian League club Inverness Athletic with young goalkeeper Fraser Wilkie at Inverness City on a similar arrangement. Matty Macleod is a doubt with flu to complete the lengthy list of absentees with Sharp set to dip into the under-20s pool to supplement his match day selection. One to watch: Joe McCabe. The young attacker comes into this one full of confidence having netted an impressive hat-trick for Locos in their comfortable 4-0 away win at Clachnacuddin last Saturday. The pacey front man will be aiming to add to his haul when Neil Cooper takes his men to Station Park and with the Locos attack having failed to break down Turriff United in their midweek stalemate, they will be eager to make amends in this one. Match officials: Referee Ben Dempster, Assistants Ewan Jarvie and Duncan Anderson. Weather forecast: Light cloud 14 degrees 41 mph wind. Admission prices: Adults £8 Concessions £5 (two children under the age of 14 are admitted for free if they are accompanied by a paying adult). Graeme Macleod
