Cowdenbeath manager Jimmy Nicholl will be hoping a decent showing from his players at Central Park today will at least go some way towards helping them ease the pain of shipping double figures seven days ago.
Ten-man Cowden conceding 10 goals at Tynecastle was one of the main stories in Scottish football last weekend, and not many would fancy their chances of forgetting that particular humiliation this afternoon by beating a Rangers side who are likely to be rejuvenated after events off the field this week.
However, Nicholl stressed after the Hearts embarrassment that he has not shirked a challenge in his life and he is unlikely to start now as he aims to rebuild confidence following that earth-shattering result.
A 10-0 drubbing will not have done Cowden’s goal difference any good whatsoever and indeed it slipped to minus 45 following events in Edinburgh but the fact remains that they are still level on points with Alloa and six points behind Dumbarton as they bid to get back out of the Championship drop zone.
“When these results come along, and they do for sides at all levels, it is how you come back from it that is a marker,” Nicholl noted.
“I will have to closely consider the line-up from what took place on Saturday but whoever goes out there will have to show real character and get out there and get that Tynecastle result out of their system.
“We cannot afford anyone going into a shell because that will just had the initiative to Rangers.
“We simply need to be right in their faces from the first whistle.
“We need people in this game to show what they are made of.”
Midfielder Colin Marshall will again be sidelined with a hamstring problem and he is expected to also miss next week’s home game against Hibs, which Nicholl admits is a blow.
“Colin is an experienced player who was missed at Tynecastle,” he added.
“We need to come up with some way of ensuring that his role is covered in the next couple of weeks.”
Defender Lewis Toshney, whose early red card left Cowden right up against it last weekend, is facing a ban.