Ronan Hughes knows what it is like to be on the end of a Scottish Cup shock with Hamilton Accies and this weekend the East Kilbride star will be hoping to help inflict one on his former employers.
The midfielder joined Kilby in the summer from Accies and, as fate would have it, the sides have been paired in the third round of the Scottish Cup.
Hughes will return to his old stomping ground at New Douglas Park – where he spent over a decade – aiming to help Lowland League title hopefuls EK spring a surprise on John Rankin’s Championship strugglers, who have won just twice in 16 games this term.
And having been part of the Accies side that was dumped out of the competition by West of Scotland League outfit Auchinleck Talbot at the same stage of the competition last season, Hughes sees no reason why Kilby can’t do the same to their South Lanarkshire rivals.
He said: “I played in that Talbot game so I know what it’s like and that these results can happen.
“There will be pressure on Accies and that will be good for us. We’ll be the underdog and nobody is expecting anything from us, but we’ll go there and make it as tough as we can for them.
“Near enough every year there is a team that pulls a result out of the bag and surprises everybody so who is to say it can’t be East Kilbride this year?
“We have got good players and I think people will see that on Saturday.
“People will look at us and think because we are a Lowland League team we won’t be that great, but we’ve got players that should be playing at a higher level.
“We want to go there and get a result. We know that is going to be difficult with them playing three divisions above us but we still fancy our chances and we’ll do our best to get through.
“But I think they will be going into it full of confidence and, being the favourites, they’ll believe they will beat us.”
The 23-year-old came through the youth ranks at Accies but decided to move on during the summer.
However, he feels he will have a point to prove when he makes his return on Saturday.
He added: “I think anyone going back to their former club will feel they have a point to prove especially so soon after leaving. I’ve only been gone a few months.
“I would say I could still play at that level but I needed a change.
“I’d been at Accies for over 10 years and I was getting a wee bit too comfortable. I needed a new challenge and moving to East Kilbride came at the right time for me.
“But I’m still quite close with a lot of people there and the coaching staff so it will be nice to see them again.”
Saturday’s match at New Douglas Park is a 2.30pm kick-off and fans can pay at the gate to get in.
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