Sundays are usually seen as a day of rest, but Dundee United fans had better hope that their side are not sleepwalking into disaster at Stair Park this coming Sabbath.
Tangerines boss Jackie McNamara has already stressed the importance of taking this weekend’s Scottish Cup fifth round tie seriously, and Stephen Aitken’s charges simply cannot be underestimated.
The length of almost two leagues separate the two teams in Scottish football’s grand scheme, and you’ll get odds of around 6/1 or bigger for Stranraer to cause an upset.
But even though United will be firm favourites to progress, they won’t exactly be in for a warm welcome when they travel to the west coast for Sunday’s early afternoon start.
For starters, it’s a clich but Stair Park will undoubtedly be a leveller, and the Blues have won 11 of their 18 competitive games on home turf so far this season.
The fact that it’s an early-ish kick-off and live on Sky Sports might also put a few United fans off from travelling down, giving the home team an extra edge.
But when it gets down to the actual football side of things, Stranraer are well organised, have a great mix of youth and experience, and will work their socks off as they try to take United’s scalp in the competition.
Aside from the fact they are currently two points clear at the top of League One and pushing hard for promotion to the Championship, their progress in the previous round at Dunfermline’s expense is all you need to look at to tell you that.
In truth, they were probably fortunate to get a second bite at the cherry as the Pars led 2-0 thanks to goals by Andy Geggan and Gregor Buchanan, although they dug deep late on.
Willie Gibson reduced the arrears with just minutes left and, buoyed by a raucous home support, a long ball into the box deep into injury time was headed into his own net by Geggan to force a replay.
Still, nobody really expected Stranraer’s team full of part-timers, many of whom had to dash to Fife for a midweek kick-off after finishing the day job, to knock the Pars out at the second attempt at East End Park.
But that’s exactly what Aitken’s men did, and it was well deserved.
I was there that night and the Blues were right at it, battling for every ball and silencing the home crowd on their way to a 3-1 win a triumph that was just the club’s second win at East End in 144 years.
Their never-say-die attitude was perhaps epitomised by sub Danny Storey, who had suffered a family bereavement just days before but pleaded with his manager to be involved before coming off the bench to set up Stranraer’s killer third.
The man who scored that goal, Jamie Longworth, also has to be considered one of the biggest threats to United with 11 goals in 31 appearances so far this term.
His strike partner Craig Malcolm also offers plenty going forward, while the likes of Gibson may only be 30-year-old but he has accumulated bags of experience in his midfield role for several clubs over the years.
At the back, Stranraer can be as solid as they come with David Mitchell a regular in goal, while captain Frank McKeown embodies what Stranraer are all about.
A typical no nonsense centre half, he’s strong in the tackle but decent on the ball as well, so there will be no doubt the man who fights fires in his day job will be confident of extinguishing United’s cup hopes.