The experienced sweeper put a nightmare injury spell behind him when restored to the heart of the defence for the 3-0 victory over Port Glasgow – Lie's first clean sheet in the eight games played since arch-rivals Lok inflicted a morale-denting 5-3 Sectional League Cup defeat on their last visit to Dunterlie in August.
Merriman, 32, watched that horror show unfold from the sidelines and now he's desperate to play a part in setting the record straight. He said: "My troubles all kicked off around January last year when I was being bothered by a niggling groin injury which didn't actually stop me playing and I got through the second half of our season, but without really doing myself justice.
"When the injury didn't clear up during the close season, I fixed up an appointment to see our former physiotherapist, Kenny Murray, and he diagnosed my pains were coming from a misaligned hip and pelvis.
"Recuperation necessitated six weeks' rest before getting down to work on a demanding programme of exercises which has been my lot ever since, and I only started back full training a few weeks back.
"After all I've been through, it gave me a huge lift to get another hurdle out of the way by playing my first game against Port Glasgow and I'm just praying I've done enough to get the nod to face Pollok.
"It's every Arthurlie player's dream to be involved in these derby games and more so in light of how things panned out for us earlier this season.
"Blowing a 3-0 advantage and losing the Sectional League Cup game was a real kick in the teeth and the players are looking to try and make amends to our fans.
"It won't be easy – it never is in these games –but there have been signs of late that we are developing as a team and I'm feeling confident we can put up a much better showing than last time."
Lie boss Mark Cameron today sounded a warning ahead of the showdown. He said: "I've heard it said in some quarters this is a good time to be playing Pollok, yet what I see in front of us is a team that has won its last four games, scoring 12 goals and losing none.
"This has to be decent form by anyone's standards, so my players will probably be rated underdogs for Saturday and that sounds about right."
Word in the visiting camp reckons injuries ruling out Steff Reilly, Darren Brady and Stuart Mills could result in transfer-listed Rob Roy winger Brian Mackay figuring on the Pollok bench, but manager John Richardson said: "Brian was previously here and is arguably a better player nowadays, but there's no chance of him coming back on board as things stand.
"And, given I know of at least three top clubs that have tabled deals for him, the likelihood is he will be signing elsewhere.
"We'll have the same guys that beat Neilston available this week, plus Brian McGinty will come back into the reckoning after recovering from a calf strain, so it's not as if we'll be short of bodies."
