'Hopefully he'll be available' - Gala Fairydean Rovers boost as strike ace could be set for return

Murray has been out for a fortnight after rolling his ankle and was an unused substitute as Rovers lost 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out at Kinnoull on Saturday after the sides were level at 1-1 after extra time in their East of Scotland Qualifying Cup second round encounter (match report on page 39).

Boss Scott told The Southern Reporter: “Zander was on the bench but still not able to come on as he was still feeling his sore ankle in the warm-up.

"He’s been out for two weeks now but he trained on Monday night and that’s a positive so hopefully he’s available for Broomhill.

"As everybody knows, Zander’s a goal threat for us and makes a huge difference to the dynamics of the team.”

Rovers go into Broomhill ninth in the table with 10 points from six games, although they have lost their last two.

"Our target is to improve in every game and be as competitive as we can,” Scott said. “Looking at the table, there are some teams in the bottom half that have maybe found themselves a bit unlucky throughout the course of the games they’ve played to this point or teams might be struggling with injuries like we are.

"Everybody will have a purple patch throighout the course of the season. I still feel we have a purple patch to come.”

Last weekend’s cup defeat also saw Rovers without suspended Lewis Hall, injured Ciaren Chalmers, Calum Hall, Jack Beaumont and Quinn Mitchell, while Allan Smith was missing due to family commitments.

Lewis Hall will be available to face Broomhill after serving his ban but Smith is missing again along with Chalmers, Calum Hall, Beaumont and Mitchell.

After coming through 120 minutes at Kinnoull knock free, Scott remains in contention to play at Broomhill and could also be in the running for Gala’s next league game at Tranent Juniors on Tuesday night.

"I think it will be beneficial for me personally to get that amount of minutes in my legs,” he added.

"Other players who hadn’t played much have also got vital minutes into their legs.”