Spartans v East Kilbride: Revenge on Robertson's mind as Kilby seek return to league summit after cup exit
The top two in League Two clash on Saturday, a week on from Spartans knocking Kilby out of the Scottish Cup
East Kilbride midfielder John Robertson admits ‘payback’ will be firmly on their minds when they head back to Edinburgh this Saturday looking to avenge their Scottish Cup exit at the hands of Spartans.
The two sides are battling it out at the top of League Two, but the capital club got the better of Kilby again on Saturday, fighting back from a goal down to win 2-1 at Ainslie Park in the second round.
That added to a 3-1 success for Spartans at K-Park on the opening day of the league campaign, so Dougie Samuel’s side have shown they have Kilby’s number.
But Robertson, who scored from the penalty spot at the weekend to net his 15th goal in 18 games this term, is determined to change the record as EK look to move level at the summit with a win.
He said: “There is a bit of a point to prove now. If we don’t win, the gap goes to six points or if we win we go level.
“It is a six-pointer, essentially, so hopefully we can go beat them this time and kick on from there.
“I’m sure the boys will be ready to go and get a bit of payback.
“Spartans have beaten us twice now. The first game wasn’t as close as Saturday there.
“We know we will score in most matches so it is a case of trying to limit them. Everybody can beat everybody in this league and it is just about whoever can go on the best run.
“I’m sure with Spartans and Stirling Albion [fourth place] coming up in the next couple of games, if we can get six points from those two games we’ll be flying again.”
Such an early exit is a big blow for Kilby who know very well the rewards for reaching the latter stages, given their 2016 glamour tie with Celtic in the last 16.
And Robbo added: “The cup is all about getting a wee run and trying to get through to later rounds to get one of the big teams in the fourth round, so it is really disappointing.
“I thought we played okay in the first half and then their goals came from our own errors. Spartans are a good team, but I think we limited them to few chances and our own stupid mistakes is why we’ve lost the game.
“When we concede a goal, our heads go down and then we concede another one straight away, so you are trying to fight back and you are snatching at chances.
“A few of the boys get frustrated, me being one of them in terms of getting a bit angry.
“It is tough when you go behind to a good team like Spartans.”
Kilby switching off for a minute lead to cup exit, says coach
East Kilbride FC coach Blair Munn admits Kilby switching off for literally a minute cost them in their Scottish Cup exit to Spartans.
Kilby had taken a first half lead from the penalty spot through John Robertson, who broke the deadlock after 20 minutes in front of Celtic hero John Hartson, who joined club owners Paul and James Kean in the stands.
However, Spartans came flying out at the start of the second half and Marc McNulty levelled on the hour with a strike from a tight angle, before McNulty then pounced on an error by Kilby keeper Freddie Owens to slot in the winner just seconds later.
It is the second time Spartans have inflicted defeat on EK this season, with the League Two title rivals fighting out a 3-1 win in Spartans’ favour at K-Park on the opening day of the season.
Munn, whose side now head back to Ainslie Park this Saturday on league duty, said: “It was a tough one. We are disappointed to go out at the first hurdle.
“To lose two goals in a minute is really poor. The dynamic of the game changes at that point and with Spartans being strong defensively, that suited them to hold that lead.
“We’ve gone 1-0 up with a penalty but then lost two really poor goals from our point of view.
“Spartans had a couple of chances after that so they can probably argue they deserved it.
“We spoke about a couple of things at half-time, in terms of how we could hurt them more and limit chances against us but we did the opposite of that.
“They’ve got Marc McNulty who has played at a much higher level, so if you give him chances like we did, he is going to finish them.
“They are a good side, very well-organised and experienced. They beat us at the start of the season and on Saturday, so we need to try and put that right.”
East Kilbride are three points adrift of Spartans at the League Two summit and Munn knows the magnitude of this weekend’s clash.
He added: “In the context of the season, this Saturday is a really big game with them sitting three points ahead.
“If they stretch that lead to six points, that is quite a big gap, but we can pull it back level with a win, so it is an important game.”
Kick-off at Ainslie Park on Saturday is 3pm.