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Cove Rangers defender Mikey Doyle made his debut in the Scottish Cup over a decade ago in a 3-2 win for Alloa Athletic against Stirling Albion, but says he remains as excited as ever by the prospect of the national knockout competition.

He believes there is always a different feeling, one of real excitement, in the build-up to a game like the one we face on Saturday against Caley Thistle:

“Of course, it is a special occasion! When it comes to the Cup the hope is to get an easier tie or a money-spinner against one of the higher up teams, and this one falls between those, but whatever the game, you have to win it, and that’s what we will be trying to do.”

Mikey has already enjoyed a few decent Cup runs and been close to major upsets in his career. His Alloa side lost narrowly to Hibernian in 2014 and three years later, with Morton, he suffered a hard-fought 2-1 defeat at Ibrox, despite the Greenock team taking an early lead. Two other huge games remain fresh in his memory:

“In 2018 we reached the quarter-finals, which was big achievement for Morton, and we played Celtic at Parkhead. With an hour gone, it was goalless, but their subs were just better than ours; they brought on Odsonne Edouard and we just had kids on the bench! It finished 3-0 which was disappointing, but Celtic Park was the last stadium in the country I hadn’t played at, so at least I had that.

“The next year we lost against Aberdeen at Pittodrie after I had moved to Queen of the South and Stephen Dobbie scored a ridiculous goal from about forty-five yards. When we were celebrating, he told me he saw me overlapping, so decided to shoot rather than pass to me! I think it was voted goal of the season!”

The popular full-back netted his first, and so far, only Scottish Cup goal last season at Forthbank in our win over Stirling Albion, and now he hopes for more success this time round:

“It’s a one-off game, you want to get into the later rounds, and it is an exciting time. Cup-ties always feel a bit different; some mental things can happen because both teams will have a go.

“This will be a tough one, we know having played Inverness twice already this season, it’s not going to be an easy game, so we are fully focused on the ninety minutes ahead. The boys are excited, but you need to win the first game, and if you do, then you can start to think about the future rounds”

That said, Mikey does understandably harbour dreams of another cup run:

“With Morton, we got to the semi-finals of the League Cup, and taking on Aberdeen at Hampden was a brilliant experience for all of us. I’ve been playing professionally since I was sixteen, and those are the kind of memories you want to have.”

The full interview with Mikey can be viewed at the Cove Rangers FC YouTube channel.

Tickets for the game can be purchased in advance at this LINK

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