Brechin City travel north to face Buckie Thistle for the second time this season – this time in the William Hill Scottish Cup – in a return to Victoria Park only a matter of weeks after a previous midweek jaunt to the Moray coast saw a jubilant home side exit City from the Irn Bru Cup.

Darren Dods, his coaches and players will travel firm in the knowledge that they will face a different kind of challenge than is being thrown at them on a weekly basis in the unforgiving Ladbrokes Championship, where full time opponents are continually providing a particularly stern test.

Despite City’s recent Scottish Cup record being far from impressive, travelling fans will doubtless seek solace through the recollection of a previous visit to the Moray coastal town back in February 2011 which was a stop-off en route to the Quarter Finals – undoubtedly the most exhilarating Scottish Cup adventure Glebe Park fans have enjoyed in recent times.

With last weekend’s scheduled game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle being postponed, the City players have had a lengthy preparation period for this Cup Tie – allowing for any mental recovery required after conceding a devastating last minute own goal against Dumbarton which hurt the players as much as it did the supporters. The Cup Tie will provide a welcome league respite and give City the opportunity to grab that elusive – and lucrative – first victory of the season.

Squad news coming from training this week isn’t as encouraging as it could be. With the continued absence of injury victims Andy Jackson and Ryan McGeever, other notable absentees will be the unavailable Gary Fusco and Connor McLennan - whose parent Club Aberdeen FC have chosen not to allow him to be eligible to play in this competition. Ally Love returns to contention after serving his 2-game suspension, but clearly Dods will be required to shuffle his pack to accommodate these forced absences.

Entry to the match is priced at an attractive £10 for adults and £5 for concessions. Pre-match hospitality is available for both sets of fans in The Victoria Lounge, adjacent to the stadium. Look out too in the match programme for an article compiled by Steve Mew and supported by images from Derek Watt, both from City’s brand new Media Team.

The match will be refereed by Grant Irvine, taking charge of a City game for the first time this season – but who last season handled a 2-1 victory at New Bayview against East Fife, and a 1-0 home reverse to Peterhead. He will be assisted by Gavin Harris and Calum Doyle.

Should the tie end in a draw, the replay will take place at Glebe Park, on Tuesday 28th November – with a 7.45pm kick-off.
 
The draw for the Fourth Round, which will hopefully remain of interest to Brechin City fans, will be broadcast live from Sky Sports' studios in Glasgow on Monday 20th November at 4.45pm.