Albion Rovers midfielder Ciaran Donnelly eyes Scottish Cup shock

Jan 20 2010 by Colin Paterson, Airdrie & Coatbridge

CIARAN DONNELLY feels Albion Rovers still have an opportunity of pulling off a Scottish Cup shock.

The Monklands outfit held their Second Division opponents on Monday evening and will replay at Forthbank tonight.

A trip to First Division Ross County – who thrashed Highland League Inverurie Loco Works 4-0 in their fourth round tie – awaits the winners.

And Donnelly believes Rovers have what it takes to upset the Binos in their own backyard.

“It was a typical cup tie, but I thought we played quite well and created a couple of chances,” the 23-year-old told the Advertiser.

“I didn’t think there was a huge gulf in class and I felt we more than matched them out there.

“There wasn’t much difference between the teams ability-wise and that gives us some confidence going into the replay.

“This type of performance gives you a wee boost and it is a good gauge as to how well we have done over the course of the season so far.

“I was quite impressed with how we did and, hopefully, we can kick-on over there and give them another tough match.”

Midfield star Donnelly isn’t fazed at the prospect of playing twice in 48 hours and reckons SFA chiefs had no choice but to replay the tie tonight.

He added: “The two teams are part-time, so we are both in the same boat. There has been a lot of cancellations, so the games have to be played some time.

“This is going to be a busy spell in the season and it is important that we prepare for games properly.

“We’ve been off for a while but this is a hard week for us, with the replay and then Forfar in the league on Saturday.”

Donnelly signed on at Cliftonhill for another year last summer and hopes the season will end in success.

“There’s a lot of competition for places here now and the squad is probably the strongest I’ve been part of in my four years here,” he said.

“I wanted to see what players the manager was bringing in but I was always willing to stay here.

“At the end of the day, I want to win things and hopefully we will be able to do that this season with the players we have.”