'My players made themselves heroes in 2022, but they can become legends in 2023'

There's been plenty to celebrate for Linlithgow Rose in 2022

Rose make the short trip to Albyn Park in the East of Scotland Premier Division on Saturday as part of a derby weekend across the league setup. Herd’s side, like their hosts, are looking to end the calendar year with a victory.

"It's a tough game, Broxburn is always a hard place to go,” said Herd, whose side hold an eight point lead at the league summit.

“We are looking to go and end the year on a high and then start the new year on a high, because we've got a big three or four months coming up with a push for the league and the Raith Rovers cup tie at the end of next month.

"The guys will have plenty opportunity to stake their claim for a place in the next three our four games coming up.

"2022 had been a good year for us, getting the first trophy through the door in eight seasons and we followed that up with another one.We got a wee glimpse of getting into a league title race but we just kind of fell short.

"It's been a positive year but the prizes aren't handed out in December, it's up to the guys to go and build on what they've achieved so far and make 2023 a really good one, they've got the chance to go and make themselves legends by getting the club's first league title in ten seasons and making a push for the Lowland League.”

Broxburn boss Chris Townsley says it’s the perfect game for his side to come back to after a weather-enforced four week break without a competitive match.

He said: “It's a great game for us to get back into. We haven't played for a while so it's a good game to come back to. We've kept ticking over, we played against a decent Livingston development side last week.“The players should all be up for it and be really looking forward to it.”

'My players made themselves heroes in 2022, but they can become legends in 2023' - Linlithgow Rose boss Gordon Herd