Gary Naysmith spells out Edinburgh City's ambition in Scottish Cup

Edinburgh City travel to Angus to take on Forfar Athletic.

The rejuvenated Citizens have hit the ground running since the resumption of League Two almost a fortnight ago, Tuesday night's 3-1 victory over Cowdenbeath at Central Park their fourth win on the trot.

The Capital side, who announced earlier this week that they will be returning to the redeveloped Meadowbank for the start of next season, take a break from league duty this weekend when they go head to head with the Loons.

And although cementing a promotional play-off berth is Naysmith's overriding priority – the club currently occupy second spot in the standings – the former East Fife and Queen of the South manager is desperate to clinch a spot in the draw for the last 16.

Ahead of the Station Park clash against League One's basement club, Naysmith said: "We are going up there to win tomorrow, make no bones about it. People might be saying 'oh do you want an extra game' but I definitely do. I want to go as far as we can in the Scottish Cup as well as keeping our league campaign going.

"I'll be sending out a team to win the game. I know Forfar will certainly be looking to win to try and give themselves a bit of momentum in their fight to stay in the league so it should be a good game.

"I know Stuart [Malcolm, Forfar’s manager] well, he's got some good players. I've not watched all their games but there are maybe instances where they've just been unfortunate or there are times where they could have played a bit better.

"It's a chance to go there and enjoy ourselves and take some of the pressure away from the league where we've known right from the restart that we can't really afford any slip-ups.

"We might go there with a bit more freedom but the players will be under no illusions that I want to win the game. We're in the third round and if you get past this stage then you could find yourselves with a really big draw. But it's all about the here and now and that is beating Forfar and keeping the run going. If we manage to do that then we go five unbeaten and that's what we want to do.

"The players deserve all the credit as some of them have played four games in ten days so it's an outstanding effort."

Naysmith was full of praise for his side's dogged display in Fife on Tuesday night.

He added: "We warned the players the other night we were going to have to do the ugly side of the game and in the main we did that. The players are buying in to what we're striving to achieve. People look at these types of games and think they are easy to come to and pick up three points but that's not the case. We have to treat every game as if it will be the toughest of the season.

"We're building momentum but you can't look too far ahead. It's very difficult to win four games in a row in any league in Scotland so they should be proud they've managed to do that."