GREENOCK Wanderers entertain old rivals and championship contenders Cartha Queens Park at Fort Matilda tomorrow in the BT National League Second Division with the match kicking off in accordance with the new autumn fixture schedule at 2pm.

It is another daunting prospect for Wanderers as, despite rising out of the relegation zone last weekend by securing a losing bonus point at Haddington, they face one of the sides that are in with a genuine chance of gaining promotion.

The men from the south side of Glasgow have been the ‘nearly men’ in each of the last two seasons, having lost out in the race for promotion on the final day of both campaigns.

They will be eager to make it third time lucky this term and will clearly view the visit to the west end of Greenock as being an opportunity to achieve a sizeable victory in that quest.

The visitors had an indifferent start to the season and unusually for them have lost three games, albeit two of them against fancied sides Musselburgh and Falkirk, but they have also posted some excellent results, including beating early pace setters and second placed side Howe of Fife.

Last Saturday the shock result in the division and indeed of the campaign was Cartha losing at home to Aberdeenshire by 31-25.

In fairness that result appears to have been a blip as head coach Gary Grant and his team have regrouped and are now on the march up the table with clear intent.

From Wanderers’ perspective it is another opportunity to test themselves against one of the top sides in the division. Unfortunately the locals have not fared too well in that regard so far this season and, as has been recently documented, they have not won a home league match for over a calendar year.

The betting man would not risk much on a home win tomorrow but Wanderers have saved some of their best performances in recent years for the games against Cartha and last season did well against the Glasgow side despite losing out on both occasions.

In the away match at Dumbreck the locals raced into a 12-point lead and at home in January they bettered that by enjoying an early 14-point cushion only to be caught and eventually beaten in both matches.

Wanderers’ form could be accurately described as erratic and inconsistent this season but when they get into the groove they are capable of testing most sides in the division.

To date though they have played only two teams from the top four and suffered heavy defeats in both encounters.

Tomorrow’s fixture therefore is fraught with danger that if the Greenock men do not turn up and produce a motivated and spirited display then it could be a long 80 minutes for those who support the men in red, black and gold.

On a positive note, last week’s losing bonus point which resulted in Wanderers’ rising to 10th in the table has done much to galvanise the determination and confidence levels evident within the squad and with head coach Graham Knox now enjoying some consistency of selection the ‘hoops’ are probably in their strongest position of the season in relation to player availability.

The strongest possible side will be tasked with attempting to upset the Cartha bandwagon and once more a big onus of responsibility will be entrusted to the senior players in the squad to lead by example and put in a hard shift and a quality display around which the younger players can rally.

Memories of recent drubbings against the top sides should be confined to the history books and a positive mental attitude must prevail if the Octavia Terrace men are to engage in the right frame of mind to have a real go tomorrow.

Skipper Murray MacDonald, Matt Gray, Ally Abernethy, Andy McDougall, Kenny Diffenthal and Leigh Tyley are the key figures for Greenock and if they can motivate their team-mates to focus on this game as a standalone fixture and play with the fortitude, confidence and skill they are capable of then the locals have a realistic chance.

President John McDougall said: “Cartha are an outstanding side but we have shown that we can match them on our day and once more I would appeal to the Wanderers support to get behind our boys in what is another tough test for them tomorrow.

“Getting out of the relegation zone last week has instilled some added confidence and we are ready and looking forward to one of our toughest challenges of the season.” As has been the case for much of the campaign Wanderers will go in as under-dogs and despite the positive sound bites emanating from the inner sanctum at Fort Matilda the reality is that Cartha should comfortably dispose of the west-enders.

Skipper MacDonald will no doubt have an alternative vision about the outcome and a large support will crowd the touchline to give him and his team every encouragement in what is their biggest game of the season to date.

Wanderers are sponsored by Texas Instruments.