Auchinleck Talbot boss Tommy Sloan declares 'we're still in it' ahead of Scottish Junior Cup comeback bid at Darvel

Tommy Sloan insists Auchinleck aren’t down and out despite having it all to do against Darvel on tomorrow (Friday) evening.

Talbot head to Recreation Park in the Scottish Junior Cup semi-final looking to overhaul a 2-0 defeat from the first leg at a packed Beechwood. The record 14 times winners fell to goals from Jordan Moore and Talbot old boy Graham Wilson with a penalty.

But long in the tooth gaffer Sloan declared: “We are still in the match and we’re going there to win the game. If we score first then we are back in the mix. If I was in Darvel’s position, I would be confident of going through as I am sure they will be and we know it will be a tough ask.

“Darvel showed they had more experience than us. Although we had plenty of the match we didn’t test Andy Leishman. The final bit wasn’t there for us although there were one or two positives.”

Darvel boss Tony McInally reckons the tie isn’t yet settled and claimed: “It’s only half-time and there is a big game to come. We’ll have to play even better in my opinion.”

Talbot will be boosted by the return of Aiden Wilson who returns from honeymoon but Euan Thomson and Craig McCracken again miss out.

Sloan revealed: “Euan is going for a scan on his knee after injuring it at training. His absence has been a big blow for us.”