Colts chase cup double

The ‘big’ team travel to face League 2 side Stirling Albion in the third round of the senior Scottish Cup at Forthbank on Saturday.

And as the only Lowland League side left in the Scottish Youth Cup, the under-20s are taking on Queen of the South for a place in the last 16.

In their debut Scottish Cup campaign Colts’ senior side have already accounted for Glasgow University and Auchinleck Talbot to earn the club’s first-ever competitive crack at a senior Scottish side.

But in a sense the under-20s are a step ahead - they’ve already knocked out Stirling Albion, as well as Edinburgh City and Highland League side Deveronvale to reach the last 16.

They have also reached the final of the Scottish Lowland League Cup and have had a number of players called up for involvement with the top team.

Colts co-manager Craig McKinlay said: “The under-20s have done really well - and they’ve already knocked out Stirling Albion so we’ll have to do the same otherwise they’ll get the bragging rights!

“We had Jordan Pirrie, who is just 16, come on against Leith recently and he played really well.

“If we can have a system where young players feed through into the first team then that’s the way forward for the club.”

On the senior side’s prospects against Stirling Albion, McKinlay says his players - currently on a nine game unbeaten run after Saturday’s win over Gala Fairydean Rovers - have nothing to lose.

He said: “All the pressure is on Stirling Albion. We’ve done very well to get this far in the cup, although that’s not to say we wouldn’t like to go further.

“We’ve had them watched and they are a decent side so we’ll be expecting our biggest test of the season so far.

“We’ll prepare ourselves properly as usual but really I just want the players to go there and enjoy the occasion and who knows, on the day anything can happen.”