DEFIANT Port Glasgow Juniors boss Tam Jamieson says his side face their biggest challenge of the season ahead of their trip to Saltcoats Victoria on Saturday.
The Parklea side tasted defeat on league duty for the first time since August last year after falling 1-0 at home to Knightswood in front of a bumper crowd.
And the Undertakers boss says his players must show their character by bouncing back when they travel to North Ayrshire this weekend.
Jamieson wants to see a reaction from his side (Image: alex craig)
Jamieson says he's under no illusions as to how hard that task will be as they prepare to go into battle at Campbell Park, a place that few teams enjoy visiting.
After being relegated to the bottom tier at the end of the 2022-23 campaign, and finishing nine points adrift at the bottom of the Fourth Division last season, Vics have shown a marked improvement so far in 2024-25.
Under the guidance of Stevie Wilson, they currently lie in 11th place and have won their last three home games, scoring 13 goals along the way, demonstrating they'll be no easy touch when the Port come to town on Saturday.
Jamieson told the Tele: "It's a big test of character for the boys now. It's the first time they've been beaten in the league since August.
"Now we face the prospect of going to play Saltcoats away this weekend.
"It's not a place you want to go to at the best of times, never mind after a tough defeat. But we'll do what we're still doing.
"We need to pick up the three points and go again on Saturday.
"There's still a lot of football to be played between now and the end of the season, which is definitely a good thing."
Port Glasgow saw their unbeaten run come to a shuddering halt at the hands of Knightswood on Saturday. (Image: alex craig)
Jamieson says that his side's objective remains the same despite the defeat inflicted upon them last weekend.
And he challenged his side to keep on climbing the mountain between now and the end of the season in order to be ready to capitalise on any Knightswood slip-ups.
He added: "We've been behind Knightswood since they beat us in August.
"I just keep on saying to the boys that we've been climbing the mountain ever since then, and we're not going to stop now.
"They're still above us, albeit with an extra three points now, but nothing changes with our mentality.
"We just need to hope that they drop points along the way from here.
"If we really want to go on and win the league, we can't drop any more points between now and the end of the season."
Kick-off at Campbell Park on Saturday is at 2pm.
