Having twice been involved in League Cup shocks against Premiership sides, Cove Rangers attacker Jordon Brown is dreaming of a hat-trick.
The Granite City side – who beat Junior outfit Banks o’ Dee 4-1 on Saturday in their final pre-season friendly – face the top-flight’s Hibs this weekend in their League Cup Group B opener.
During his five years with Peterhead, Brown helped the Blue Toon shock Premiership sides Dundee in 2016 and Hearts a year later (both 2-1 victories).
© SNS Group
The 27-year-old would love to add to that list when Hibs visit the Balmoral Stadium for this weekend’s televised clash.
Brown, who scored against Dee on Saturday, said: “I’ve been involved in a couple (of shocks) we had Hearts and Dundee when I was at Peterhead.
“This is a chance to try to create another shock and we’ll go into the game, especially with it being at home, looking to win.
“We’ve got a proud record at home and it doesn’t matter who comes here, we don’t want to lose that.
“If we could pull something off it would be brilliant, but Hibs have started the season really well and they’ll be coming up here looking to avoid an upset.
“But we’ve just got to take our confidence and ability into the game and see what happens.
“It’s a great day for the club and it’s just a shame that fans can’t come, but it’s massive with the game being on TV as well.
“We want to show we are good enough to play against these top teams.”
With the depth of options available to Cove boss Paul Hartley, Brown knows there’s no guarantee of featuring against Hibs, but hopes he’s done enough to earn a chance.
He added: “There’s a lot of competition in the squad and the quality of the boys is different class.
“I’ve just got to keep my head down and work hard and when I get my opportunities, like Saturday, try to take them.
“I’ve just got to keep working hard and hopefully I can get a chance against Hibs.”
© Duncan Brown
Brown headed in Cove’s first against Banks o’ Dee from Harry Milne’s cross and Mitch Megginson doubled the lead in the first half by converting Jamie Masson’s cross-cum-shot.
Leighton McIntosh added a third on 50 minutes before Dee pulled one back through Rob Armstrong from close range, with McIntosh firing home his second from the edge of the box to complete the scoring.
Teenage Dundee United defender Ross Graham played for Cove, having also been involved in last Tuesday’s friendly with Fraserburgh.
When asked about Graham, manager Hartley said: “Ross did fine and he got a good 90 minutes under his belt and we’ll see where that takes us. We’ll speak to Ross and speak to Dundee United and take it from there.”
Banks o’ Dee co-manager Jamie Watt said: “It was always going to be a big step up for us to play Cove.
“But I thought we acquitted ourselves really well. We gave them a competitive game and showed a great attitude.”
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