Penicuik Athletic ready to get title bid firing again after a long break

The Cuikie were top of the table when they last played in January but have since been usurped by Linlithgow Rose who hold a two-point lead over McLeish’s side, as Penicuik’s last three matches were postponed.

After a confidence-building 5-1 friendly defeat of Heriot-Watt last Saturday, McLeish’s players are itching to get back to a competitive match when they visit Blackburn United tomorrow.

“The number of goals was irrelevant it was more about the performance levels from the boys,” said McLeish. “Bejay [Koya, Heriot-Watt manager] loves to have his teams playing football and he really empowers his players to play, and they believe they can play. I don’t think the entire game there was a ball booted long from either team, so it was really enjoyable to watch.

“We had 16 players available on Saturday and all 16 got about an hour each, so I was quite happy with that. It’s been a long month for us, it is what it is. You can only play fixtures when they are there to play and when pitches have been playable; pitches have been terrible lately so we’ve not been able to play.”

Blackburn are fighting for their lives at the bottom end of the table, so McLeish is expecting a difficult match.

He added: “They are strong side who can really hurt you if you let them. We are under no illusions it will be a hard three points to get but we go there with the intention of getting them. They made it hard for us the last time and I’m sure they’ll do the same again.

“The incentive for both teams to win is massive. That can bring pressure, or that can bring quality, and I am hoping it’s the latter, I hope both teams relax a wee bit and try and play. We are at our best when we pass it and that’s what we will try and do, we will try and play