East Stirling captain Derek Ure reckons Joey Barton has never heard of Shire, but he hopes the Rangers midfielder will know all about the part-timers after tonight.
The Lowland League minnows are relishing the visit of Mark Warburton’s side in this evening’s televised Betfred Cup clash, just two months after losing their place in the SPFL following a pyramid play-off loss to Edinburgh City.
Midfielder Ure is set to go head-to-head with the likes of former Burnley midfielder Barton and one-time Croatian internationalist Niko Kranjcar and he hopes Shire can make a lasting impression.
Ure, who helped promote the club’s new shirt sponsorship deal with league sponsors Ladbrokes yesterday, said: “I would doubt Barton has even heard of East Stirling but we hope he knows all about us after Friday.
“It’s great for the club and the fans and it’s good for the players that we get to go and test ourselves against one of the best teams in Scotland.
“Ultimately it is a test of your own ability. You want to see how good these guys are and it is always good to test yourself.
“But I think we have got to be realistic. When you look at the standard of squad that they’ve got, I don’t think anybody will be looking at us getting a victory but we have our pride and we want to give a good account of ourselves.
“We won’t just roll over and get our tummy tickled. We will go out there with the aim of getting a result. But everybody has got to be realistic.
“Obviously our big aim this year is to get East Stirlingshire back where we belong, in the Scottish Professional Football League. That’s the priority but this is a bonus along the way.”
