They may be heading to face Arbroath as underdogs, but Forfar captain Ross Meechan insists his team is capable of a Scottish Cup upset in the “tie of the round”.
The League Two side will make the short trip for the Angus derby in the third round of the historic cup to face a Red Lichties side just two points off the top of the Championship.
Two teams in form
The Loons are also in decent form having just lost once in their last nine games.
While defender Meechan is full of respect for Arbroath’s achievements so far, all that will be put to the side come 3pm on Saturday.
“The way they are playing in the Championship, they’re flying just now. Dick’s doing an absolutely great job,” he said.
“Credit to them as players, they’re part-time playing in a full-time league, two points off the top.
“I think it’s something a lot of part-time teams can look at in terms of what can be achieved.
“We’ve been playing well ourselves; we’ve only lost twice this season so we’ll go there with every confidence and we’ll look to get through to the next round for sure.”
Forfar bounced back from defeat to Kelty last weekend with a 3-0 win over Cowdenbeath, despite the absence of key men Stefan McCluskey, Craig Thomson and Jamie Ness.
Set up to be a classic match
On paper, two high-flying teams in different leagues always makes for an intriguing tie, but add in the derby element and the game has all the makings of a classic.
“It’s going to be a great tie. It might even be game of the round, with two teams in great form and as a derby it’s got everything going for it, not just as a player but for the fans as well,” Meechan said.
“Our fans have been looking forward to this one since the draw was made. They’ll be favourites with the bookies no doubt.
“We’re playing a team two leagues above us. We’ll be looking to take a scalp at the end of the day.
“Although we have belief in the squad we can go through, there is no pressure on us. We’ll just play our usual game and I have no doubt if we all dig in and play on the day we’ll get through to the draw.”
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