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After last week’s weather-enforced layoff, we are back in action on Saturday, hoping to make progress in this season’s Scottish Cup.

Having seen off Caley Thistle in a tight encounter, the draw was as kind as it might have been, sending Forfar Athletic – bottom of League Two – to Balmoral Stadium, but manager Paul Hartley says no-one at the club will be taking anything for granted:

“We’re at home, we’ve got an opportunity to get into the last sixteen, but we have got to earn the right to do so.

“We will need to be at it, we’ll need to have the right attitude and we will have to compete against what will be a well-drilled side.

“If we get all that right, we will give ourselves a good chance to go through.”

While we have enjoyed some notable Scottish Cup results down the years, and taken on some of the biggest clubs in the country, one thing that has always been missing is a money-spinning glamour tie, the kind of game that would make a massive difference to the club’s finances:

“It’s a great opportunity to be in the draw for the next round with the potential of getting a big tie. I know what that would mean to everyone at the club, so do the players, and we are determined to give our all to achieve that.”

Liam Parker and Will Gillingham remain sidelined, and Blair Yule will be missing through illness, but on the plus side, having had it delayed a week, Declan Glass is set to make his fiftieth appearance for the club:

“I am really proud of that! It’s no mean feat to have played so many games for a club like Cove, especially given the competition even to pull the shirt on every week. You look at some of the names on the list, the guys who have already fifty-odd games, and those who are now well over a hundred, so it’s great to be part of that.

“I definitely see it as an achievement, and having scored in the last round against Inverness, it would be brilliant to celebrate with a cup win.”

A victory would see Cove into the Fifth Round, matching our best runs in the competition, previously achieved in 2017-18 and last season. The draw will be made on Monday night following the Dundee derby.

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

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