Linton Looks Forward to Home Tie
Ahead of Saturday’s William Hill Scottish Cup Third Round tie against Arbroath, Scott Linton took time to speak to the official website, sharing his thoughts on the upcoming 90 minutes.
Clyde’s opponents are a familiar foe – The Red Lichties sit just one place behind The Bully Wee in the League 2 table and the two sides have shared one win apiece in their meetings so far this season. However, the last match between the teams was a tough one to take for Linton and his teammates and he is looking to put that right this weekend.
The game between the sides at Gayfield just two weeks ago ended 4-0 to the hosts, but Linton said: “We are ready to go back at Arbroath again and show that that wasn’t a true reflection of us on the day. We will be going out on Saturday to make amends for that.
“We just didn’t get going and we were well beaten on the day, but other than that we’ve been on a relatively good run and we bounced back against Berwick.”
Despite being drawn against a team he already faces four times a season, Linton admitted he was happy when he heard the draw – purely down to the fact the match would be played at Broadwood. He continued: “I just wanted a home draw to be honest! With the last round up at Brora and last season’s disappointment up at Formartine it was just good to get a home tie.
“Our home form has been quite good; Forfar is the only game we have lost at home against a team in our league this season so the home form has been good. We feel comfortable when we’re playing at Broadwood so we will be looking forward to Saturday and trying to put right the performance from a couple of weeks ago.
“There are no easy games in the Scottish Cup, but we are just glad to get a home tie and we will go into it full of confidence.”
Victory on Saturday would see The Bully Wee reach the fourth round of the Scottish Cup for the first time since 2013 and only the second time since 2008.
Linton, however, has enjoyed further progress in the Scottish Cup personally, reaching a quarter-final tie against Aberdeen with former club Dumbarton in 2014. Despite the top clubs in the country entering the draw at the fourth round stage, Scott was adamant that nobody in the Clyde dressing room is thinking any further ahead than tomorrow’s match.
The 27-year-old said: “The chat amongst the boys at the start of the season was to try to get a good cup run, but once the season starts you take it game by game. Last season we got put out in the second round and the year before we were knocked out by Spartans, so there is no divine right to win any game of football and the manager makes sure we know that.
“We don’t think about the fourth round and when the big boys come in. We just think ‘right, here is the next round, this is who we’ve got to face next. This is who we’ve got to beat.’ I know it is a cliché but you do take it game-by-game.
“If we do win on Saturday and we are in the hat for the next round then that would be something to look forward to, but we have got business to look forward to against Arbroath and that is the only thing that we are thinking.”
Linton signed off with a note of thanks to the fans, who he believes are playing a key role this season:-
“I’d just like to say thanks very much for the support that we have been given,” he said. “It makes a huge difference to us when the fans are on our side and turn up every week, especially at away games where the turnouts have been fantastic. We just ask the fans keep that up and help us as much as possible!”