Brechin City progressed to the Scottish Cup fifth round when they beat Annan 4-2 on Tuesday to book a trip to Falkirk.
Defender Gerry McLauchlan is now hoping the Glebe Park men can defeat Morton at Cappielow on Saturday and start delivering at a consistently high level.
McLauchlan said: “The replay was good and it was great to get in at half-time three goals up. They had played a lot of high balls up for Peter Weatherson and then long throw-ins to their centre-half and we had coped well.
“They got a goal back with a terrific shot at the start of the second half but we got a fourth goal and saw things out to get through.
“We face Falkirk in the next round and that will be our third away tie on astroturf in the competition as we had Stenhousemuir, then Annan and now Falkirk. It is a great tie for us as there will be little pressure on Brechin to win and it gives us something else to look forward to through the winter.
“It has been a bit of a mixed season for both me and the club. I missed most of the start of the season with injury and we picked up two wins and three draws in our first five league games.
“We then went on a run of one win and four defeats, which I was part of, before steadying things in an unbeaten run of five games in the league and eight unbeaten games in total.
“Three of those games were draws in the league and we were leading in every one of them. Our league position could be a bit different if we had seen those games out.”
Turning his thoughts to playing at Cappielow, McLauchlan said: “Morton will be a difficult game at their place. They have the benefit of full-time training whereas it will be our third game in a week. They also have decent players but our manager Ray McKinnon gave us a bit of a looser training night on Thursday.
“However, you only need to look at how well my old club Stranraer are doing to recognise what part-time sides can do. I was with Hamilton doing a YTS scheme and joined Stranraer when I was 18. I don’t think there are any players left from my time there but I know the bus driver Stuart Marshall is still involved. He has been there for years and is one of the great characters in the game.”
After his spell at Stair Park, McLauchlan moved on to Queen of the South and had loan spells at Montrose and Arbroath before joining Brechin in 2010.
The 25-year-old has now made over 100 appearances for Ray McKinnon’s side and said: “This is my fifth season at Brechin and I enjoy it. They are a good club and train not far away from me at Stirling so the travelling is not too big an issue.”
The only disappointment McLauchlan feels is that he is not facing Ayr United, as he explained: “There is something about playing against Ayr that brings the best out of me. I have only scored 11 goals in my career and five have been against them. Hopefully, I can add a goal against Morton to my collection.”
Craig Stewart
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