Kilwinning Rangers boss David Gormley is hoping a Scottish Cup win against Tranent this weekend can be a springboard for the rest of the season.
The Buffs boss believes he’s yet to see the best of his newly-assembled side almost two months into the campaign.
And he reckons Saturday’s first round clash at home to Lowland League Tranent would be the perfect time for everything to come together.
“We’ve still to get going in my eyes- I don’t think we’ve found our rhythm yet,” said Gormley.
“Tranent coming here is a chance for us to test ourselves but I have a lot of faith in these players. Hopefully our season starts this Saturday.”
Gormley knows enough about Tranent to realise they’ll pose a serious threat to his hopes of a run in the nation’s premier cup competition.
He went head-to-head with them in the second round last season while manager of Broomhill and was on the wrong end of a 2-0 defeat.
Since then, he’s seen them in action against Darvel and East Stirling, giving him a pretty good idea of how they’ll shape up come three o’clock on Saturday.
“They’re a right good physical side with some very good technical players who like to get the ball down and play,” added Gormley.
“They’ve got to be the favourites. They’ve just got promotion, they play a league above us, so if you’re a bookie then you’d have them down as favourites.
“We will go in there all guns blazing though and hopefully there’s a good support there to get right behind the boys.
“When we played Tranent at Broomhill it wasn’t a 2-0 game and no disrespect to Broomhill but I think my team now is far superior, far stronger. “
Gormley believes his players can take great encouragement from the character they showed in the 2-1 preliminary round replay win against Rutherglen – their last outing.
The Buffs had a comfortable 2-0 lead at half time before a red card for defender Dominic Boland threatened to let Glens back in the tie.
Gormley added: “I think the first half against Rutherglen was the best we’ve played since I’ve came here.
“I thought that would be the game where everything would click into place for us but the red card changed that a wee bit. We showed a good spirit though to get the win and that should stand us in good stead.”
• Kilwinning are set to honour long-serving physio David McCallum with a testimonial match.
A Legends versus Allstars game has been arranged at Buffs Park for Sunday, October 30 to mark McCallum’s 20 years with the club. Kick-off is 1pm and entry is £5.
A club spokesperson said: “We hope to see as many people out to support an unsung hero of the club.”
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