Greenock Juniors FC vs Threave Rovers FC

THREAVE Rovers are the visitors for Greenock’s final home game of the season tomorrow.

On this occasion, home is the Largs Thistle ground Barrfields stadium - an early decision was made to switch the game due to the real risk of forecast possibly resulting in a postponement at Ravenscraig.

With Threave having no free Saturdays and the difficulty of arranging midweek games for the Castle Douglas-based side, moving the fixture to an artificial surface seemed the most equitable solution.

The Nock will go into this match with renewed confidence, after a performance full of character and no little game intelligence, produced a deserved win over Bellshill last week.

If the Nock can show the same attitude, and add the level of the technical football that they are well capable of, they can derail Threave’s promotion drive as they did with Bellshill.

Greenock will be further motivated to reverse the 2-1 defeat away to Threave in February.

The visitors really need a win to boost their promotion hopes. Their form has been patchy of late, losing two and drawing one of their last four league matches.

It is a very interesting test for The Nock given the performance at Bellshill.

But this will likely be a very different type of match than the previous weekend and not just because of the surface. Threave are one of the more technically adept teams in the league, as indeed are Greenock on their day.

Composure and game management will be key elements in deciding the outcome of the match.

For manager Gary Fleming’s group the same attitude as last week and an adjustment of the dial from fire and brimstone to calm concentration could do the trick.

With the exception of goalkeeper Bryan Tucker the squad will be pretty much full strength. Jamie Black is now available for selection, having served his three-match ban for red cards earned, ironically, in the first match against Threave.

Ryan Corr has trained, despite having had to go off early in the second half against Bellshill with a nasty knee injury. There were a few other players carrying knocks from the Bellshill match, however, they all are fine.

Last week the team was well served by development players stepping up and performing well in difficult circumstances. It is a real boon to the club to have that quality of player available to supplement the squad.

Manager Fleming said: “It would have been preferable to have completed our home fixtures at Ravenscraig; however in the circumstances playing at Largs is a very acceptable alternative.

"The astro will suit both teams, so we should see a really good football match. The pitch last week was not suitable for playing great football and to grind out the win the way we did was very satisfying.

"That said, the boys have now set themselves a standard, particularly in attitude, that the coaching staff will hold them to for the remaining six games - starting tomorrow."

Fleming added: "Training as always has been excellent, although we have been watchful of the lads who were carrying knocks from the previous weekend.

"Threave are a very well organised and disciplined side. We will need to match that to win. We are certainly capable.”

Kick-off 2pm, Barrfields Stadium, Largs.

Greenock are sponsored by Saveheat, Keystore Cowal View, Safer Group, The Lighthouse Bar, McGill's, ARC and Blairs.