Bathgate boss Love vows attack is best form of defence

Oct 28 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

GRAEME LOVE has insisted his side won’t got to Meadow Park and park the bus when they face Irvine Meadow in the Junior Scottish Cup on Saturday.

His Bathgate Thistle side could be considered underdogs for the glamour tie against the Ayrshire cracks but boss Love is adamant his side will play for a win at the first attempt.

Bathgate warmed up for their trip down the M77 with an excellent 2-0 win over Newtongrange Star at the weekend and Love reckons he saw enough on the day to suggest they can get the job done at Irvine at the first attempt.

He said: “Despite the weekend win, I think we have played better to be honest but I’m pleased to have won the match.

“We had a couple of big players out injured so to win was good especially going into a big Scottish Cup tie on Saturday.

“One of the most pleasing things was keeping a clean sheet as we have been letting in goals in previous matches and that is something we have worked hard on.

“It was also good to welcome young Chris Jeffrey back from a long spell injured after a broken leg and it was nice to see him score on his return.”

West Superleague high-flyers Irvine Meadow have only lost one of their six league matches so far this season and are just three points off the top of the pile.

They are also former three times winners of the Scottish Cup but Bathgate also boast a proud cup record.

Winners as recently as 2008 and now coming into a good run of league form of their own, Jags manager Love is sure his side can hand their hosts some home hurt this weekend.

He continued: “I’m looking forward to the match against Irvine Meadow and the Scottish Cup is the biggest prize in the junior game.

“It is a massive match and they are a very good side so I believe we could go into the match as underdogs which isn’t always the case in the cup.

“Come Saturday, the guys will be ready for the tie and we are hoping one or two of our boys will be back fit and we’ll be closer to having a full squad available.

“We will be going for the win down there as we won’t be looking to hold them to a draw and take them back to Bathgate.

“Playing for a draw is not something we do. We like to keep it tight when we don’t have the ball and express ourselves when we do and it won’t be any different against Irvine Meadow.

“It is a big game, a big tie, against a good side but we won’t be playing anything like 11 men behind the ball and looking to steal it.

“I am very comfortable that we have the players to win the tie on the day and on our day we are as good as anyone in the country.

“We are now looking a lot more solid at the back and are going in the right direction.”

The West Lothian club won for the second league weekend in a row last time out to move to within five points of the league leaders.

There is still a long way to go and a lot of football to be played this season but Love reckons the next three months will be crucial.

He added: “From our point of view it is important for us to keep in touching distance of the top as I am still convinced the league will go the full distance this year.

“We need to be there or thereabouts at Christmas and January time to be challengers.

“We have suffered a few bad defeats and some of them have been hard to take.

“However, if we can go on a run now between now and the New Year and continue to work hard we should be in a very good position.”