Steven Mackay has acknowledged the remarkable numbers which account for Brora Rangers season, the striker alone having scored 38 times in the campaign already.
He hopes today to make Queen of the South the latest statistic, by killing off the SPFL Championship side's hopes of reaching the next round of the William Hill Scottish Cup.
Counting all league, Scottish Cup and North of Scotland Cup matches in which Brora have been involved, the Highland League side have scored 115 goals in only 26 matches, an average of 4.8 goals a game. Mackay has been the most prominent during that run of form, while former Inverness Caledonian Thistle attacker Zander Sutherland has chipped in 21 goals.
The Highland League champions have made a show of strength in their own division, although East Fife did knock them out of the Challenge Cup earlier in the season. Mackay is aware that squaring up to Queen of the South this afternoon will be another significant challenge.
"Looking at the draw, you could have picked a whole handful of teams we'd have preferred - a Premier League team or a winnable home tie," said the 33-year-old, whose side stayed in a hotel outside Dumfries last night. "We got neither, and it's the longest trip we could have landed, but the Scottish Cup can be funny. It can bring up a big shock.
"Our attitude is to go down there and try to make something happen. They could have an off-day. You just never know. That is our attitude. There's no pressure on our players whatsoever. Everyone expects us to go down there and get beaten."
Such cup ties tend to make the more illustrious side more nervous and Queens will not be taking things for granted tomorrow. They have been tested already, since neither goalkeeper Zander Clark nor winger Greg Kiltie are available for the tie. Their parent clubs, St Johnstone and Kilmarnock respectively, refused Queens permission to use the players in the Scottish Cup.
Teenager Jim Atkinson will instead be in goals for the Dumfries side and James Fowler has warned his team against complacency. "Brora are top of the Highland League but to be honest they are better than that league," said the Queens player-manager.
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