The Scorries take on Huntly in the first-round match and co-manager Richard Hughes says that while they were hoping to draw a team at the lower end of the league for the opening fixture, he is nevertheless delighted that it is a home fixture.

Commenting on the Scorries' prospects, he was not underestimating the challenge facing his side: "We're expecting a hard game. David McGinlay has got Huntly playing very well at the moment," he said.

The last time Huntly visited Harmsworth Park the game ended with a 3-0 defeat for Academy, and the team know it won't be an easy contest for them, despite their recent form.

Meanwhile, opposing manager McGinlay knows it won't be a walk in the park for fourth-placed Huntly either.

He said: "We came up a few months ago and got a good result, but when I heard the draw my first thought was that we couldn't get a tougher game. Wick are a team I rate very highly."

Hughes has promised that Wick have learned a few things since their last encounter with Huntly and that they will have a squad that is keen to play some good football.

"The last game we played against Turriff, the team was delighted to just get out and play football. Barring no accidents at training we will have a full squad for Saturday's match," he explained.

McGinlay also hopes to bring a full squad to the encounter on Saturday.

"The squad is looking pretty good at the moment," he said. "There are a few niggles that have arisen in training and because we have not played for so long, but they should be sorted by the weekend."

Hughes says it's a matter of taking it slowly and building on each performance.

"We try not to look ahead too much, we just take it one game at a time, and we constantly try to improve as we go."

This may be the only option for Academy, as more and more games are postponed this season.

Bad weather has affected the entire Highland League over the winter months with dozens of games being put off, building up a backlog for the teams.

Huntly have had a very unfortunate season due to the weather with more than 10 postponements, meaning that they have only played a handful of games in the past four months.

Hughes says the postponements are causing a big problem, with the cup games adding to an already busy schedule.

"We already have enough games to deal with; the congestion from postponements keeps building," he said.

Huntly have had their own problems in not getting a game.

"In terms of the team, the players are very frustrated. It feels like pre-season again with the constant training," explained McGinlay. "The team needs to play some games in order to up their sharpness."

Academy have also suffered from a lack of on-the-pitch action. Last Saturday's away game at Inverurie was postponed after more bad weather. Snow fell heavily midweek and there was talk of relocating the game to Harmsworth Park.

However, Hughes says that by decision-time at the end of the week it was not possible.

"We had discussed moving the game here, but by Friday our own pitch was in no condition to play," he stated. "The snow had melted and about a quarter of the pitch had three inches of water on it. It just wasn't an option."

The weather has also affected Academy's training, with the team having to move indoors last week. They did, however, manage to get back outside this week.

"We had some light training on Monday night, hoping to play the Clach game on Tuesday," he said. "The problem is the pitch keeps freezing over. There is a large section of the park which is in the shade of the south stand that is frozen over."

Tuesday night's game was the third to be called off in a fortnight, but Hughes knows there is nothing that can be done about it.

"It really is Russian roulette with the weather at the minute, so we'll just watch the results and continue to concentrate on one game at a time."

McGinlay also remains cautiously optimistic.

"We're looking forward to the game but we will just see how it goes," he said. "It's always hard to tell when there has been so many games called off. With any luck the game will be on."

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