Gretna take on Leith in Image Cup

Sep 10 2010 by Kieran Westbrook, Dumfries Standard Friday

GRETNA take on promotion rivals Leith Athletic in the Image Printers Cup this weekend.

Gretna are the current holders of the trophy, and the Raydalers’ boss wants to keep it that way.

Stuart Rome said: “This will be a very tough game for our lads.

“Leith are absolutely flying this season.

“They’ve won every game and they’re battering clubs when they play them.

“But we want to hold onto this cup.

“It’s one of the bigger competitions and we want to defend it.”

Leith have made an impeccable start to their campaign scoring 19 goals and only conceding two in their opening four matches.

And Rome reckons a win over the Edinburgh outfit at their own ground would give his side a big lift.

“Beating them this weekend would be a massive confidence-booster,” he said.

“We play them in the league in a few weeks time, and having knocked them out of this cup would really help.”

But Rome has been faced with a striker shortage ahead of Saturday’s match.

Loaned Queens players Gavin Reilly and Steven Degnan are both struggling to recover from injury.

And with Tony Nicolson still out, he hasn’t got many forwards to choose from.

He said: “We’ll just have to wait until Saturday morning to see how they are.

“I’ll make a decision on who plays up front then.”