Nairn County’s friendly clash with Inverness Caley Thistle faces being frozen off
Nairn County’s cruel luck in search of a game of football looks set to continue with a Tuesday night friendly against Caley Thistle now in doubt.
A frozen solid surface at Station Park is threatening the game, with the two clubs considering instead holding a closed doors bounce match on astroturf.
The Wee County have managed just one competitive 90 minutes since previous manager Ross Tokely left the club on January 18 after a 5-1 home defeat to Forres Mechanics.
After beating Lossiemouth 3-1 in caretaker Brian MacLeod’s first game in charge, Nairn attempted to line up a friendly against juniors Dufftown only for the North Region Championship outfit to land a rearranged cup tie.
It has been hugely frustrating for MacLeod, who will go into Saturday’s league tussle with Strathspey Thistle without a game in three weeks.
“The Caley Thistle friendly is looking doubtful,” MacLeod said.
“The weather forecast is not looking great and the groundsman was down this morning and said Station Park was solid.
“We might possibly change venues, but I will need to speak to Caley Thistle manager Scott Kellacher.
“They are in need of some action as well, with their game being off at the weekend.
“It is just really frustrating. We’ve had no luck in terms of how the fixtures have landed.
“Dufftown were keen to play us but then their league fitted in a cup game. It has been pretty difficult!”
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Nairn made a decent start under MacLeod, with that Lossiemouth win and now travel to face a Strathspey Thistle side fighting for their lives at the foot of the Highland League.
The Grantown team has shown promising signs of improvement since former Caley Thistle goalkeeper Ryan Esson took charge and could still drag three teams above them into a relegation dogfight.
“My first game against Formartine was postponed, then we got off to a really good start with a good win and good performance against Lossie.
“It has just been solid training since, which has been good in a way as well. It has given us a chance to work on a few things and work on fitness for the tail end of the season as well.
“Strathspey probably haven’t had the results their performances have deserved so it will be a tough match.
“They gave us exactly that in the 3-3 draw at Station Park, where they probably should have won to be honest.
“I’ve watched them once or twice since. They’ve been unlucky.
“They’re probably in a false league position.”