Annan Athletic boss gripped by Scottish Cup fever ahead of Dumbarton clash

Annan boss Peter Murphy admits he is being gripped by cup fever as he prepares his side for tomorrow’s visit of Dumbarton.

The two teams collide in the Scottish Cup third round and he is counting down the hours until kick off.

The clubs last met in the play-offs when Murphy’s troops triumphed before beating Clyde to clinch promotion for the first time in their history to League One.

He said: “It’s a game we are all looking forward to and it will be a tough tie.

“Dumbarton are playing a little bit different to the way they did last year and with our former player Tony Wallace in their set up they are a side with creativity and a lot of hard work.

“It is a game where both teams will be looking forward to get through and see who they can get in the next round.

“We all remember landing Rangers at home in the competition and what that brought.

“But first of all we have to concentrate on this game.

“I gave the players the day off last weekend although we had tried to fix up a friendly for the Saturday, but it just didn’t work out.

“So that gives a few players with injury niggles an extra week to clear them up and it gives all of them a rest, particularly the lads who have played the majority of our games this season.”

Murphy added: “Dumbarton are going to make it hard for us and they have added some good players to their squad this season like big Tony who will be a handful plus Michael Ruth from Queen of the South and also Sean Crichton at the back.

“They have done alright this season so we know it is going to be a good, hard cup tie.”