Irvine Meadow boss George Grierson has warned his players to expect a 'smarting' Hurlford United when they visit Blair Park tomorrow.
The sides head into a crunch West of Scotland Premier Division clash level on 23 points and on the back of disappointing defeats.
Hosts Hurlford lost out to Cumnock in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Junior Cup last weekend while Meadow's inconsistent league form continued in a 4-3 home defeat against Cambuslang Rangers.
Grierson admitted Meadow had a ‘really bad day at the office’ and is expecting a reaction from his players. But he's also fully aware that Hurlford will be equally fired-up.
He said: "As a team, Hurlford are a snapshot of Darren. They are always hard to beat and they will be smarting which makes them dangerous."
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Grierson admitted he was baffled by his team's performance against Cambuslang.
He said: “We were terrible. It’s the worst we’ve played since I came here.
“There was no fluidity about us. The way we play is high tempo with a real energy but there was something wrong.
“We were half-a-second too slow on the ball, boys were taking a touch extra than they needed to.
“It’s a strange one because our training in the build up to the game was especially good. It left you thinking we can take this into the game."
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