IF Auchinleck Talbot can spring a Scottish Cup upset on Saturday, they will be ‘rewarded’ with another marathon away trip.
Following mammoth trips to Caithness and Aberdeenshire in the first and second rounds, a 450-mile round trip to Fraserburgh awaits Talbot in the third round should they see off Cove Rangers in the replay at Beechwood this weekend.
And manager Tommy Sloan reckons his side can send the Highland League leaders packing.
He told the Chronicle: “We’ve got every chance of causing an upset. The boys will give it their best and we won’t be far away.”
Talbot – who have already travelled almost 1,000 miles in this year’s competition – kept up their unbeaten record against Highland League opposition after a Graham Wilson penalty secured a 1-1 draw at the Balmoral Stadium.
Sloan added: “It was a decent performance. The boys put in a good effort and created plenty of chances. Cove missed a couple of chances so either side could have won the game.
“They will be favourites for the replay. They’ll have a few players back who were missing at the weekend.
“They’ve been flying high, scoring lots of goals and sitting top of their league.
“Graham Wilson will be suspended after he picked up a yellow card and Mark Shankland will be out with a broken wrist so we will be down a couple of players and they’ll be strengthened.”
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