Whilst the nail-biting win against Heriot's a fortnight ago secured Ayr's place in the play-off semi-finals, they are still trying to ensure that it will be a home tie, so victory over Currie is a must. However, the Balerno-based team are also chasing points to push their way into the top four.
"We take a lot of confidence going into this game following our victory over Heriot's but are fully aware how tough Currie are to break down, particularly at home," says Ayr head coach Calum Forrester. "Currie are one of the form sides in the Premiership following recent results and we expect another bruising encounter this weekend."
There are some enforced changes to the squad, notably Danny McCluskey starting at stand-off in place of the suspended Ross Curle. Peter McCallum is unavailable, so Blair Macpherson comes in at blindside flanker.
The evergreen Gordon Sykes joins the front row, with Stuart Fenwick moving from prop to hooker, whilst Sykes' spot on the bench is taken by nineteen-year-old Ben Paterson in what is his debut inclusion in the first XV squad.
Ayr:
15. Grant Anderson; 14. Richard Dalgleish, 13. Robbie Fergusson, 12. Dean Kelbrick (c), 11. Craig Gossman; 10. Danny McCluskey, 9. David Armstrong; 1. Gordon Sykes, 2. Stuart Fenwick, 3. Fraser Watt; 4. Robert McAlpine, 5. Scott Sutherland; 6. Blair Macpherson, 7. Andrew Dunlop, 8. Graham Fisken.
Replacements:
16. David Young, 17. Ben Paterson, 18. Ben Johnston, 19. Murray McConnell, 20. Cameron Taylor.
Currie:
15. Matt McPhillips; 14. Ruaridh Smith, 13. Fidias Efthymiou, 12. Joe Reynolds, 11. Chris Logan; 10. James Semple, 9. Matt O'Neil; 1. John Cox, 2. Matt Goodwin, 3. Graeme Carson; 4. Romain Denonain, 5. Jamie Gray; 6. Travis Brooke, 7. Malcolm Peacock, 8. Ross Weston (c).
Replacements:
16. Marko Mladenovic, 17. Alistair Hamilton, 18. Charlie McLean, 19. Paul Mundell, 20. William Martin.
Kick-off 3pm! Follow the scores live in Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment