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The team heads for Glasgow this weekend bidding to make history and qualify for the knockout stages of the Premier Sports Cup for the first time.

A win over Queen’s Park would secure our place in the last sixteen – either as Group A winners or one of the three best runners-up – while even a draw could be enough, if we go on to secure the bonus point in the penalty shootout.

That would depend on how other teams fare, and under those circumstances, our fate might not be decided until the Sunday afternoon when St Mirren take on Ayr United, both sides still in with a chance of making progress.

Paul Hartley says he and the players simply have to focus on doing their job, and they go into the match in high spirits after a strong start to the campaign:

“We had a good first half at Brechin, won the game, both strikers got their goals, and that was another clean sheet for us. It’s all about getting the points when you’re in the group stage of the cup, and that’s what we’ve done.”

Having got married and been on honeymoon during the summer, Mikey Doyle immediately eased back into the side and has kept up his remarkable consistency levels. Tuesday night was his sixty-seventh straight start, matching the record of Stuart McKenzie, with only Connor Scully (92) having bettered that total.

He is delighted with how the boys have begun the season:

“It’s been a really good start, we’ve got the goals and three clean sheets, and I’m enjoying playing alongside Liam Parker and Justin Eguaibor. I’ve taken the two of them under my wing, trying to pass on my experience, and it’s working well so far. We’re defending the box, that’s our job, then we let the attacking players do their bit.

“It helps when you have two quality goalkeepers behind you too. All the clubs I’ve been at, I’ve never had two top keepers like we had last year in Nick Suman and Balint Demus, and we’ve got that again with Bal and Robbie Mutch. It’ll be interesting to see who plays the most, but I’ll be confident with either of them behind me.”

Now, Mikey is determined the boys will shine again at the weekend, the chance to make history against one of his former teams:

“Queen’s Park have a wee place in my heart, we did two promotions there, I was captain, and I’m excited to be going back, particularly to play at the new stadium, first time I’ll have been there.

“The good thing is, we’ve got something to play for, the chance to qualify for the first time, and we go into the game full of confidence, but we know we’re going to have to work hard again to make that happen.”

The manager is also fully focused on securing another massive step for the club:

“We wanted to give ourselves that opportunity, we’ve never managed to progress through from the group stages, and now we’ve got that chance. We’ll have a go and be as positive as we can.”

Blair Yule is expected to be fit to return for the first time this season, leaving Fraser Fyvie as the only injury absentee.

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