RUGBY - Raptors preparing for tough Stags test in Highland derby
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Highland Raptors head coach Nathan McLaughlan expects his players to have their work cut out for them against Ross Sutherland tomorrow afternoon.
Even in the absence of the first team this weekend, Canal Park will still see plenty of action as the Raptors play their penultimate Caledonia North Two match – which just happens to be a derby.
The hosts already know they will finish second in the table, but memories have lingered of their one-point defeat in Invergordon earlier in the season.
That was arguably the highlight of Ross Sutherland's up and down form, but McLaughlan is preparing for the best version of the Raptors' opponents.
"We'll be on the main pitch, hopefully on a sunny, April afternoon, so it will be a great occasion," he said.
"Out in Invergordon they beat us by a point, so we know that they will be a tough game for us.
"They've had a bit of an up and down season. They've had some good results and some poor results, so they will be looking to finish the season on a high the same way we will be.
"We know we've got our work cut out for us, but we're confident against anybody.
"I know that if we play to our potential we can win, so rather than spending too much time worrying about what they are going to do I'm just focusing on how we will play.
"It could be an incredibly good Ross Sutherland, and I hope it is because we want to be part of difficult, competitive games. It might not be, but that can't change how we approach it."
It will be the first time the Raptors have played in a month, and McLaughlan admits the season have been a fractured one, saying: "At the start of the season we had the passing of the Queen, then the Autumn internationals and then the weather in December and January.
"Then it was the Six Nations. I'm not sure we've had a run of more than three or four games together.
"Originally our season was due to finish at the end of February, so if our games had gone to schedule we would have been finished over a month ago.
"Everyone experiences that at some point. You've just got to roll with that and make sure you prepare the guys well for games."
