Whitehill fit and ready to finally face Duns

Whitehill Welfare manager Grant Carnie isn't overly concerned about his players' fitness levels as their South Challenge Cup second-round tie with Duns looks set to finally go ahead at the eighth time of asking.

Grant Carnie

If the snow stays away, Gala’s Netherdale 3G surface will host Whitehill’s first competitive game since December 19. While some aspects of their game may understandably not be up to usual standards, Carnie says his squad are a fit enough bunch to still perform despite a lack of match practice.

“Is it a worry? Yes and no,” he said. “The fitness thing isn’t a problem, it’s just phases of play and things like that will be a bit rusty. It’s understandable as we haven’t played a lot of football since the 19th of December but even before that, it was the tail end of October we played against Civil Service. Players are different now though, it wasn’t the same when I played, no-one really went to the gym or anything. They all do now and look after themselves.”

The other weekend tie sees Edinburgh City host Edinburgh University in the third round of the same competition after last Saturday’s postponement.