Paul Hartley has admitted Cove Rangers are not just playing for a place in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals but also for a much-needed financial lifeline.
The Aberdeen-based side travel to Livingston with the winners gaining a place in the last eight. Cove might be underdogs but know that if they could upset the odds then it could be massive in terms of raising much-needed funds for the League One club.
Hartley stated: “It’s massive for the club and the players, to be quite honest with you. If we could get there, it would be unbelievable. Financially, for the club, it would be unbelievable. Cove can’t just survive on home gates. We’ve always got to find a way to try and survive all the time, and that goes for a lot of clubs. Livingston will be saying the same about the rewards if you can get to the quarter-final. If you get to the quarter-final, what do you get after that?”
Hartley is a big fan of Livingston and reckons that all stems from their manager David Martindale. The Cove manager acknowledged: “They’re a good team. They’ve got a good manager in Davie Martindale and Chipper (Brian Rice) in there. They are a strong outfit.
“People talk about their physicality and the size of them, but they can play. They’ve got really good midfielders. Everybody works their socks off.
“I could hear Davie on Wednesday night shouting from the stand. It comes from the manager, by the way. He sets the tone. A lot of time for him as a manager.
“We have to go there and be well drilled. We have to be organised, strong and deal with the physicality set plays. We also need to deal with their work rate and their tempo.”