Scottish Cup: Spartans head north fully drilled on street-wise Keith

Spartans are travelling north later tonight before staying in the Aberdeen area and continuing their journey to face Highland League leaders, Keith, in the Scottish Cup second round tomorrow morning.

It is a trek that Spartans have become used to in recent years with cup draws having taken them to Banff, Fort William, Lossiemouth, Fraserburgh and Elgin. As usual, the Spartans joint manager, Sam Lynch, has left no stone unturned in his quest to find out all he can about the opposition.

"I watched Keith play Formartine United and although they won 3-2 it was a very interesting game because Formartine should have scored several goals in the first half," said Lynch. "Keith are quite a resilient side who were able to ride the early storm, and (they are] street-wise. In striker Cameron Keith they have someone who scores goals for fun and one of our big tasks will be to keep him quiet. If we can stop him from scoring then we will be well on our way."

Spartans currently sit at the top of the Central Taxis Premier Division so this encounter is genuinely a clash of the top two non-league senior clubs in Scotland. "It will be a difficult challenge for us," continued Lynch. .

"I am hoping that Spartans will produce a performance like we have in the past in the Highlands and just go and win the game. This is where experienced players like Chris Townsley, Robbie Manson and Jack Beesley can influence the result. We can also score goals from all over the park and especially it is a day for Keith McLeod, who has been working in London for a few weeks, to come into his own."

Spartans' only casualty is striker David Etale and with two players who must be under 21 in the squad Spartans are likely to include Chris Smith and either Jordan Finnie or Andrew Sinclair from the under-19s.