McNaughton ready to test the mettle of his Rangers

Arniston beat Musselburgh and drew with Bonnyrigg in topping their section in the East Region's curtain-raising competition to join last year's Junior Cup winners as well as Bo'ness and Camelon in the last four.

But, in the words of McNaughton, they were brought crashing back to earth on Saturday, when losing 4-0 to Broughty Athletic on the opening day of the Premier League campaign.

"After doing pretty well in the League Cup games, we were gubbed at the weekend, which was unfortunate," said McNaughton.

"We've got a young team this season. Apart from our goalkeeper, I think our oldest player is 23 and we just didn't play well on Saturday.

"Maybe it was due to the hype of all our good performances in the League Cup but I'm hoping it is going to be a blessing in disguise." As Arniston were losing their opening league game, Linlithgow were kicking off the Super League campaign with an excellent 1-0 success at Tayport.

"I'm expecting to find out a lot about my players, many of whom are new to the Juniors, in this match," added McNaughton as he looked forward to the semi-final showdown. It's a big challenge for them and I'll be looking for players willing to take the ball and play passes.

"While a lot of my players have played at under-19 level for senior clubs, this season is a step up for them."

The man in the opposite dugout certainly knows all about the Arniston boss, McNaughton having been appointed as one of his coaches by Dave Baikie when he was in charge at Cowdenbeath.

"We've got a lot of respect for each other but, at the end of the day, we can only prepare our teams," noted McNaughton.

"Once they cross that white line, the outcome is going to be down to the players."

Camelon, the holders, have home advantage against Bo'ness in tonight's other semi-final, which has a 6.30pm kick-off.