AUCHINLECK Talbot captain Neill McPherson has his eyes on a Scottish Cup "glamour tie" as his side prepare to enter the competition.

The towering defender is looking to avenge last year's disappointment in the competition, where they exited in the first round at the hands of St Andrews United.

Talbot will travel to Haddington Athletic in the second preliminary round on Saturday, August 31, with a win meaning they would at least match last year's run.

It was a disappointing defeat for the Beechwood Park side last time around, having become accustomed to progressing in the competition.

Talbot reached the fifth round back in 2019, and fourth round in 2022, falling at the hands of Heart of Midlothian on both occasions.

It is a run similar to that which McPherson hopes to produce this time around, as he told the club's own social media team.

He commented: “Obviously it won’t be too hard to beat last year’s run, that was disappointing.

“We’ve got another chance at it, to get a nice wee run and get into the latter stages and get the glamour tie you always look for.”

The Talbot captain was speaking to the media team following his side's latest league match, a 1-1 draw with Drumchapel United on Saturday, August 24.

(Image: Craig McGhee)

Auchinleck led 1-0 at half-time thanks to an early strike from Mick Wardrope, but Keiran Moore levelled the match just before the hour mark.

There was no further scoring, and McPherson felt it was an opportunity missed for Talbot.

He told the club's social media team: “It’s definitely two points dropped to be honest. We went up 1-0 and we were comfortable.

“It was just a mistake, it happens in football, and they punished us for it. Then it was backs against the wall for a wee bit.

“We probably should have showed a bit more confidence than we did to try win it but it’s a point at a difficult venue, we need to try build from it and get back to winning ways when the league comes back around.”