Musselburgh eye another glory run in Scottish Junior Cup

The Olivebank men have reached two cup finals in the past seven years – a fine achievement for a club of their size. Shand played in the 2010/11 final, one which Burgh lost out 2-1 to Auchinleck Talbot after extra-time at Rugby Park, and he is well aware of what the competition means to the club.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Shand said ahead of hosting Darvel in the second round tomorrow. “When the draw comes out, what you are hoping it is a home draw, so we’re pleased with that and hopefully we can continue our form tomorrow to get us into the next round.

“The club has had some good times in recent years in the Scottish Cup, so hopefully we can go on a good run and try and succeed the way we have in recent years.

“You don’t realise how much it means to the club and the town; everyone gets behind you and even for the quarter-finals, Olivebank was packed.”

Premier League leaders Musselburgh are unbeaten at home so far this season, with boss Shand pointing to improvements defensively as the reason for their impressive start to the campaign.

He added: “We’ve looked a lot more solid and we’ve not conceded a lot of goals, so hopefully that can continue.

“We’ve worked on it a lot, and I think a couple of the boys we brought in late last season took a little bit time to settle and they’ve now come into real form. I think Ally Adams [goalkeeper] has been really good this season; he’s been a major factor in the lack of goals we’ve conceded.”