'Going toe to toe with them would be stupid' - Vale of Leithen boss Grant Sandison has game plan for trip to East Kilbride

"We’re punching well above our weight in this league,” Vale manager Grant Sandison told The Southern Reporter. “We’ve got a very young side.

"They are good football players but when it comes to the nitty gritty against experienced guys who are long in the tooth and have been in the game for a while, it is difficult.

"We just have to try and find a way to limit their strengths and exploit their weaknesses. We have had East Kilbride watched. I’ve seen part of their game in the Scottish Cup against Peterhead on Saturday so we will have a game plan.

"As much as I would like to go there and be expansive, the position that we’re in and the group we’ve got, probably it wouldn’t suit them.

"I would feel I’d be throwing our guys under the bus doing that so it will be a very similar performance and style of play that we had against Bonnyrigg, Spartans the first time and the win we got against Bo’ness.

"Because we are against a side that are going well, I think it would be stupid of us to go there and try and go toe to toe. We will try and hit them on the break.”

Vale go into the game having played six triallists in a 4-0 friendly defeat at Edinburgh United last Saturday.

Two of the new faces impressed – a central midfielder and a striker – and are training this week with a view to Sandison signing them.

"The midfielder uses the ball well and is good off the ball,” Sandison said. “The boy up front’s quite physical, strong, gives us a presence.”