Striker confident Clachnacuddin can avoid North of Scotland Cup semi final upset against Inverness Athletic
JAMES Anderson says Clachnacuddin will be looking to avoid being the victims of a cup upset when they face Inverness Athletic in the North of Scotland Cup semi final.
The striker believes the North Caledonian League team have the quality to cause them problems when the two teams face each other at Grant Street Park on Wednesday night.
But he is confident with their form in the Highland League this season that they will be good enough to claim victory and reach the final to face either Brora Rangers or Lossiemouth who take each other on in the other semi final on Wednesday.
Anderson, who will go into the semi final having scored a hat-trick in the 3-1 Scottish Cup first round victory over Nairn County on Saturday, says they will be favourites to win the match.
But with Inverness Athletic winning four of their first five matches in the North Caledonian League, Anderson says Clach will be taking nothing for granted.
“We are going into it as favourites but I know a lot of the boys who play for Athletic,” says Anderson.
“When you are favourites it can sometimes work better for the opposition.
“But we know we are good enough to get to the final.”
Clachnacuddin are having their best start to a campaign in years as they are in sixth place in the Highland League with six wins from their 11 matches.
They are also into the second round of the Scottish Cup after beating Nairn County 3-1 and will travel to Lowland League outfit Linlithgow Rose in the second round.
Anderson says coming from behind to beat Nairn shows there is a different mentality in the squad which didn’t exist last season.
Now he is hoping for a good run in the Scottish Cup and earn a dream tie later in the tournament.
“The first half against Nairn wasn’t great, but it is different this year for us.
“Last year when heads were down we were thinking that we can’t get back into it.
“But all the boys had a good chat at half time and felt we had a good chance to get back into it.
“We are happy to be in the next round and will be looking to kick on again.
“We were trying to do the right things in the first half but they didn’t come off. As it was a derby, we were probably a bit nervy. But we always knew that we had a chance if we stuck to what we were good at and it paid off in the end.
“We played Peterhead last year and you want to test yourselves against the teams above. With the squad we have anything can happen and we will be looking to give ourselves a good chance.”
Anderson feels that he is getting back to his best after an injury hit campaign last season.
He played his first game in 12 months back in August after he suffered a torn meniscus and has six goals so far this season.
He is looking to gain match fitness and get back to his best with Clachnacuddin.
He said: “The knee is fine now, coming back there were a couple of twinges here and there, but now it is spot on. I just need to get fitter again. I have six goals for the season and will try and get more.”
