Brora squad will hold no surprises as Wick Academy look to get the better of familiar foes
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Wick Academy will come up against familiar foes when they face Brora Rangers in Saturday's Highland League derby at Dudgeon Park.
It will be the fourth meeting between the far north rivals this season, with the Cattachs having won all three of the previous encounters.
The Scorries' last league win against Brora was at the end of 2012 but Wick player/manager Gary Manson says his squad will be full of confidence.
“Brora haven't changed much over the last two or three years. It's more or less the same players and the same style of play," Manson said.
“There are certainly going to be no surprises when we play them.
“They seem to be quite lucky in that they don't get many injuries and don't get many call-offs. Whereas we change week to week, they seem to have quite a settled 12 or 13 players that are always there and are always available.
“We know how they'll line up, we know how they'll play, and it's just up to us now to try and get the better of them which we haven't done for a while."
The first three Wick/Brora games this season were all at Harmsworth Park, with Brora coming out on top in the North of Scotland Cup (1-0) and the Highland League Cup (3-0) either side of a 4-1 result in the league.
“We go into every game thinking that we can get a win, so while they've got the better of us so far this season, and in previous years, we'll go down there full of confidence," Manson said.
“We're in reasonable form of late. We'll go down there and give it our all – it's a derby, at the end of the day, with the added incentive that we haven't beaten them for a good long while.
“The boys should be raring to go on Saturday and looking to go and get the win.”
Danny Mackay is expected to return to the team after his two-match suspension, while Richard Macadie is available again.
Manson said: “Hopefully we'll get a couple more in to bolster the options and give us a bit more strength in depth.”
Brora manager Craig Campbell said: “It is always a tough game against Wick, and the way the weather is going it could make it a bit more tasty as well.
“We have played Wick a lot in the cups as well as in the league and we want to keep the unbeaten record going. We are going into the game with confidence but we will not be complacent.”
Academy tightened their grip on eighth place in the league when they withstood a second-half fightback to beat Fort William 3-2 last Saturday. A penalty by Manson and further goals from Davie Allan and Mark Macadie put the Scorries three up early in the second period, only for the much-changed Lochaber side to reduce the deficit through Niels Lellouch and Yves Zama.
Third-placed Brora had to rely on Colin Williamson's stoppage-time goal to earn a 2-1 victory at Huntly.
Wick Academy's Ryan Campbell is building up his fitness after being sidelined over the past two months with a broken bone in his arm.
The 22-year-old midfielder returned to training on Tuesday but will not feature in the team until the injury has fully healed.
Player/manager Gary Manson said: “He's back doing some light running and non-contact stuff. With the nature of the injury, if he was to go straight back into contact training and fall on the floor and damage his arm again then he'd be back to square one.
“He will just be taking his time and making sure his arm is healed properly and building up his training then. But he's back in with the boys and doing light training, so that's good to see."
Fellow midfielder Sean Campbell, who suffered an ankle injury in early January, is still not ready to return.
Manson said: “Sean had a little bit of a setback on his ankle so he'll be a wee bit away yet, I would think.”
