Formartine United gaffer Paul Lawson will call on former Cove Rangers players Daniel Park and Darryn Kelly to plot EK’s Scottish Cup downfall.
Park and Kelly helped sink Kilby in the SPFL play-offs last season and now ply their trade at North Lodge Park.
They are set to line-up against EK on Saturday when the Lowland League side take on United in round three of the Scottish Cup.
Highland League Formartine knocked out Lowland side Gala Fairydean in the last round and gaffer Lawson, the former Ross County and Celtic youth midfielder, said: “Parky and Darryn are both former Cove players, so we’ll definitely speak to them about East Kilbride to get their thoughts, as well as doing our own homework.
“The teams are very evenly matched and both will feel they should be doing better in their leagues. We’ve been inconsistent but having home advantage is always a bonus.
“It will still be a difficult game.”
Lawson is also looking forward to catching up with an old team-mate, in Kilby defender Craig Reid.
He added: “I used to play with Craig Reid when he was at Motherwell and, in our younger days, at Celtic, so it will be good to catch-up with him – but friends go out of the window for 90 minutes in these games.
“This is a great opportunity for both teams to progress and potentially draw a big name.
“We’ve had East Kilbrdie watched a couple of times. They’ve lost their manager since then, but with Jim being part of the old management team anyway, I’m not sure that will change things much.
“It will come down to the players because they’ll see it as a good chance to get a big name out of the hat.”
United in focus
United have Paul Lawson, the former Ross County midfielder, in the hot-seat as their player manager and he is assisted by ex-Aberdeen captain Russell Anderson - also Lawson’s brother-in-law - at North Lodge Park.
Similar to East Kilbride they sit mid-table in their division, occupying eighth place in the Highland League, where they have been runners-up in two of the last four seasons.
They hold the record for the most goals ever scored in the Highland League, notching 137 times in 2015/16.
This season, the goals haven’t been flowing as freely with the side striking 29 times in 11 games.
But they do have the best defence in Highland League, conceding just seven times in their 11 outings.
United are on a good run of form, having lost just once in their last seven games, winning on five occasions. At home, though, they have one win in their last four.
Formartine defeated EK’s Lowland rivals Gala Fairydean Rovers in the last round of the Scottish Cup, winning a replay 2-1 at Netherdale. They saw off Turriff United 5-1 in the opening round.
And striker Garry Wood may be a familiar face to many, given his spells at Ross County and Montrose.
