Blantyre Vics boss John Gibson intends to field his strongest possible team against St Anthony’s in the Scottish Junior Cup second round and go as far as he can in the competition.
Vics are on a rich vein of form and grabbed their third win in a row – and fourth from five games in the West of Scotland First Division – on Saturday as they beat Neilston 3-1 at home.
After conceding an early opener, goals from captain Craig Kerr, Scott Jarvie and Andy Gallacher put Vics second in the table, and Gibson is delighted with how things have gone so far.
He said: “We were 1-0 down, we lost a bad goal in four minutes through a mistake that we’ve not been doing – we’ve only conceded four goals this season – but the boys bounced back.
“We weren’t great, Neilston were the better team for 25 or 30 minutes and had us on the back-foot, but then we got into the game and got the equaliser.
“We were excellent in the second half and deserved the 3-1 victory in the end, so I’m delighted with that.
“We’re doing all right, we’ve started quite well, but there’s a long way to go.
“But I’m happy in the fact that it’s a lot of new players – 10 or 11, we only kept five or six – and we’re a new team, with a lot of young players in there.
“We’ve gelled well, had a good pre-season and carried that into the league.
“There’s a long way to go, with a lot of hard games coming up, but four wins out of five is a good return, and we’re happy with that.
“We’re sitting second, we have a game in hand, and if we win that we got top. That’s not a bad return from five or six games.”
That sets Vics up well for a trip to Second Division St Anthony’s, and Gibson is determined to do well.
He said: “That’s three wins in a row and we’ve got the Scottish Junior Cup on Saturday at St Ant’s, so hopefully we can add to that.
“We want to stay in that competition as long as possible, so we will be fielding our strongest possible side.
“We’ve got a good draw, and if we win that we then play Troon, Irvine Vics or Fraserburgh United in the next round.
“We picked up a couple of wee injuries, so there will be changes, but the boys who have come in have been waiting on a chance to do well.
“Hopefully we’ll get them in, and if they get a wee chance on Saturday we’ll keep improving.”
• Elsewhere in the cup on Saturday, Thorniewood face a long trip north to face Forres Thistle, Bellshill travel to Stoneywood-Parkvale, Newmains are away to Maryhill, Wishaw host Maybole Juniors and Shotts also have a long journey when they take on Montrose Roselea.
All games kick-off at 2.30pm.
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
