Wasps hope to cause cup shock

Iain Robertson • Published 5 Jan 2010 15:50 1 Comment

ALLOA Athletic manager Allan Maitland is hoping the club can cause a shock on Saturday when they take on SPL side St Mirren in the Active Nations Scottish Cup.

The Wasps travel to Paisley for the fourth round show down thanks to a replay win over fellow second division side Cowdenbeath last month.

And although Maitland is under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task facing his troops, he has no intention of just making up the numbers.

Maitland told the Advertiser Sport, "We are under no illusions of how difficult this game will be but our away form has been decent this season and we will go there with a view to winning and will try to make life as uncomfortable for our opponents as possible."

He added, "I hope we have a good support going through and that the Hawaiian boys enjoy their first journey to Paisley."

It will be big day for everyone at the club, none more so than for 34-year-old defender Scott Walker, who spent three years at Love Street. This will be his first time playing at the new St Mirren Park.

Scott says he has the utmost respect for Buddies boss Gus MacPherson, who he played with at Dunfermline, and praised the work he's doing at St Mirren on a shoe-string budget, but still believes Alloa have a real chance of causing an upset.

He said, "In games like this you have to make sure you stop them scoring early on. That will be massive for us. Keeping them out will be our main objective.

"If we can get to half-time 0-0 that would be great, then who knows what can happen.

"Knowing their fans well I can say they'll be expecting an early goal or two, and if they don't find the net the supporters will start to get on the home team's back. If that happens, great."

The SPL side are undoubtedly favourites, but Buddies gaffer MacPherson is taking nothing for granted ahead of Saturday's tie.

"They are a very well organised side who have players that have played at a higher level," he said. "They'll enjoy coming to an SPL stadium and they'll look forward to it.

"As with any cup game, it won't be easy."

The Paisley club, who currently sit 9th in the top flight, have won just two of their nine league games at St Mirren Park this season which will give Alloa the belief that they can make life difficult for the Buddies.

Win or lose, though, the Wasps can look forward to a bumper pay out of £20,000 from the game.

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Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

• 

  Jimmy Neebur
  Unregistered User
  Jan 10, 02:38
  Report comment

  Gutted - Betfred keeps ma hard earned cash once again. Unlucky tae the wasps. Ah wis absolutely freezin at the game. Ach at least we can concentrate on winnin the league and no get distracted by a big trip tae Hamden.
  
  Recommend?   Yes 0     No 0

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