Deveronvale manager Craig Stewart says his men will be pumped up for Saturday's Scottish Cup clash with Broxburn Athletic at Princess Royal Park
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Deveronvale are happy to play the role of Scottish Cup underdogs for the second round running.
Vale take on East of Scotland Premier Division leaders Broxburn Athletic at Princess Royal Park on Saturday.
The West Lothian side will be tough opponents, just as north junior champions Culter were in round one, with many predicting that Vale would come a cropper in that match.
The Banff side won that one 4-3 after extra time, inflicting a first loss of the campaign on their hosts.
Vale manager Craig Stewart recently headed south to watch Broxburn in action, and knows they will be a difficult team to play against, but says they won’t be unbeatable.
“I went down last weekend to watch them and give us some preparation and we have had a couple of reports as well,” he said.
“They are a very, very good side. I am not looking at them as a team we can’t beat but we know it is going to be a difficult tie.
“If we can reach the heights that we know we can reach, we will have every chance.
“There’s better teams in the Highland League from what I saw that day from Broxburn but that would be teams at the top end of the league.
“They will absolutely start as favourites - but so did Culter. We are fine with that within our own dressing room.
“It’s cup football and anything can happen. I wouldn’t see it as an upset if we were to go through, I don’t think there’s an awful lot in it.”
Stewart enjoyed some great days in the Scottish Cup as a player and has always empasised the importance of the competition to his players. He thinks the penny may have dropped after seeing his team come from behind three times to beat Culter.
“I think it’s taken a wee while to get into the lads’ heads how big the Scottish Cup is, not just individually but as a team and a club point of view.
“They got a proper feel for that after the Culter game. They are getting there in terms of what it means. It is a special competition and we are looking forward to playing in it again.
“We need to get to the same level again if we have any chance of getting through. Broxburn are a very good side, they are top of their league by seven points which is a big gap at this point in the season.”
Broxburn defeated Nairn County 2-1 in the first round and Stewart has received some good information on them from his Highland League colleagues.
Vale have a price to pay for their victory in the last round after losing centre back Innes McKay to an extra time red card in that tie, meaning he is suspended for Saturday’s clash.
“I’ve some contacts down south as well, so we are as prepared as we can be.
“I think sometimes you can look too much into it as well and that is up to me to transfer the information to the lads in the right way. Overloading that information is a dangerous thing to do, you can’t pick every little thing.
“The reports were fairly similar but the team that played the day I went down could be very different from what we see on Saturday. We will do more work on how we approach it and what we are all about rather than what they are about.”
Rogan Read, Ben Allan and Max Stewart are all struggling with injury for Deveronvale.
