The trip to South Lanarkshire presents Chris Anderson’s men with a colossal challenge as they bid to reach the second round of the Scottish Cup.

East Kilbride sit top of the Lowland League while boasting eight wins from eight matches and a goal difference of 26. They will also be hoping to emulate the heights they reached last season when they reached the fifth round by beating Forres Mechanics, Stenhousemuir and Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale before putting up a good fight against Celtic, losing 2-0.

Vale though will go carrying a belief stemming from their own league form. They are only four places behind Kilby in the table and are riding the wave of four wins on the trot.

Anderson said: “We have nothing to lose – nobody is expecting us to win. You only have to look at the league to see how well they are doing. This will be out toughest match so far this season but it’s the Scottish Cup so we’ll still go there and enjoy ourselves.

“We have a few players who have enjoyed runs in the Scottish Cup over the years and we will be looking to them to use all their experience against East Kilbride.”

One of those players is Keith McLeod, and he added: “At this stage of the competition it is one of the hardest draws you could get. You’re looking to avoid the top junior sides, and you would be looking to avoid East Kilbride as well. But we have nothing to fear. A cup game can be a lottery and we will go there looking for a result, while being under no illusions about who we are up against.”

Anderson has a full squad to choose from for the K Park clash, which kicks off at 3pm.