No let-up for Braves Scottish Cup clash as Stirling boss talks up preparation
Stirling Albion face up to the challenge of Lowland League Caledonian Braves in the Scottish Cup second round, with the Binos keen to avoid becoming one of the shocks of the round at K Park.
There will be no room for complacency for Stirling Albion as they make their Scottish Cup bow for 2025/26 on Saturday — with the Binos boss insisting his side will be right up to avoid a cup shock.
Stirling travel to a soon-to-be-familiar venue in East Kilbride’s K Park on Saturday for a second-round dust-up with Lowland League side Caledonian Braves, with the hosts having to switch to a temporary venue due to ongoing works at their Alliance Park home.
As ever, the national cup competition offers a chance for Albion to secure some much-needed funds for the coffers and also make some memories with a cup run.
But to do that, they will need to navigate what could be a tricky afternoon in the second round against a side sitting seventh in the fifth tier currently.
Braves had an excellent campaign last time around as they finished in third place and while things have been more up and down this term, Ricky Waddell’s side come into the weekend off the back of a comfortable 3-0 win over Cowdenbeath.
Stirling manager Alan Maybury says his backroom team have been hard at work getting a look at their unfamiliar opposition and says his troops will be firing on all cylinders after an improved second-half display secured an away point at Annan last weekend.
Maybury told the Observer: “We’ve had them watched a few times and we’ve tried to make sure their recent matches have all been covered, as well as getting our hands on as much footage as possible.
“There are players in their squad we know well and I also know Ricky from our time at the Hearts academy together on the coaching side; I actually spoke to him not long ago about something else so it will be nice to see him.
“They have a lot of energy in the team and pace up front so we know it will be a difficult challenge.
“We won’t be saving anyone for this - this isn’t a midweek game or trying to build up minutes - and it will be our strongest team out on the park.
“The Scottish Cup is very different from the Challenge Cup and the team won’t look much different from the league matches on a Saturday, we know how important this competition is to the club, the players and the fans.”
Saturday’s draw at Annan was something of a game of two halves, with a lacklustre opening 45 seeing the Binos go in behind to Keith Watson’s sixth-minute header before Ryan Shanley salvaged a point following some tweaks off the bench.
Maybury praised the depth of his side - and offered some updates on the status of some missing defenders ahead of the Braves match.
“We just started slowly and they got the early goal, but we got a grip on things better after about half an hour and it just shows how much of a squad game this is.
“We have the squad available to us that we can take three off and bring on players with quality who want to make a point that they should be starting every week.
“Lee Hamilton and Aidan Cannon are not a million miles away and hopefully will be back training with the group next week, Sam Denham still has a bit of work to get back and Harley [Ewen] is probably behind Lee and Aidan in his timeline.
“We’ve got clearance through for the St Mirren boys for the weekend and just waiting on Rangers which we expect will come through as well.
“There is a wee question over Ross [Cunningham] because he was feeling his heel a little on Saturday, possibly just with the change of surface but we’ll see how he is and there are lots of options in there for us.”