Strongest Loch Ness squad set to face Alness United
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Shane Carling believes Loch Ness cannot afford to make any mistakes at the back when they take on Alness United tomorrow.
Alness have been in lethal form in front of goal, putting 22 goals past Bonar Bridge and Scourie in their opening two matches, while Loch Ness shipped five against Nairn County A last Friday.
Carling attributes those goals to individual errors in defence, but knows if his side are to take three points from Dalmore Park, those must be cut out.
“Alness have a really strong front three, but our defenders are good enough to cope,” long-serving manager Carling explained.
“We’ve just been conceding from silly mistakes, it’s not like people are scoring world-class goals.
“It just feels like every single time we make one mistake we get punished, but at the end of the day teams are taking their chances.
“If you don’t take your chances you’re not going to win a game of football, so we’ll just have to try and stop them, that’s all we can do really.”
Carling had made some changes to his side last time out, rotating his squad to give some players minutes who have not had much of a chance yet in 2020/21, only to see his side lose 5–3 at Canal Park.
It has been a delicate balancing act to start the season strongly, while also spreading opportunities around the squad – especially everyone was starved of football for so long.
So while Carling believes that team should have been good enough to defeat Nairn’s youngsters, he has left no doubt that Loch Ness’s strongest team will face Alness.
“You sign 25 to 30 boys, and you can only select 16,” Carling said.
“I have boys that have been left out for two games in a row, and these guys are good players.
“We thought we would mix it up, leave some players out and rest them for the Alness game.
“Our squad is so big, if you don’t give these guys games they’re just going to leave. You’ve got to try and keep everyone happy.
“That’s football, everyone thinks they should be playing and unfortunately you can’t pick them all.
“This week we’ll be playing as strong a 16 as we possibly can, Alness are a really strong team.”
Loch Ness could return to the summit of Division Two if they win this weekend and Nairn County A draw or lose.
