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East Kilbride v Ayr: Kilby boss looking to capitalise on Honest Men's slump in form to land cup shock
East Kilbride boss Mick Kennedy hopes they can capitalize on Ayr United's slump in form to book their place in a historic SPFL Trust Trophy semi-final tonight.
The Lowland League champions have never reached the last four of a professional tournament and Scott Brown's Honest Men stand in their way at K-Park in a tie being shown live on BBC Alba.
Ayr - who beat Kilby 4-2 in a pre-season friendly in July - have lost three of their last five Championship games having being early pacesetters in the league.
Kennedy has previously stated Kilby's desire to go all the way in the Trust Trophy and believes his side can cause an upset.
The man who knocked Aberdeen out of the Scottish Cup with Darvel in 2023 said: "I'm quite a confident guy and we need to believe that we can compete with these clubs in one-off games.
"If you asked me if we had a strong enough squad to compete in the Championship, I'd say definitely not.
"But over 90 minutes I believe we've got enough quality to go and win the game.
READ MORE: Falkirk and Ayr United TV ties can't be distraction in Lowland title bid, warns East Kilbride boss
"We'll have a plan and strategy in place to do that. It is just about us trying to impose ourselves on the game for as long as we can, to give ourselves a chance.
"Ayr have struggled over the last few games and a lot of that has coincided with Anton Dowds being injured, who was a massive part of how Scott plays.
"Him and George Oakley up front were a real handful in terms of a partnership, so I think they are going through a period of adjustment right now. But they are still a really good side.
"Any time I've managed to pull off big results with my teams, the one thing that's been consistent is the team hasn't made any real bad errors. If we get that right, we'll give ourselves a chance."
Reflecting on the friendly with Ayr in the summer, Kennedy added: "When they played us in pre-season, they were at full strength and we still coped really well against them for long periods of the game.
"The problem we have against these teams is that if you make mistakes, they punish you. At our level, you can get away with one or two.
"We need to really limit individual errors. It will be an interesting night."
The winners of tonight's tie will face either Queen's Park or Rangers B away from home.
