EAST Kilbride boss Billy Ogilvie believes the potential prize on offer from tonight’s Scottish Cup fifth round draw will heighten the pressure for the two non-league clubs whose ambitions were put on ice last Saturday.

The Lowland League side’s tie with Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale was called because of snow at East Kilbride’s K Park.

The game will now be held on January 20. The delay, however, means that both teams will be in the draw for the next round televised live on Sky alongside Scotland’s biggest clubs.

Ogilvie reckons that will add a fresh layer of expectation for his players and their East of Scotland League opponents. “ The draw puts more pressure on both teams now, especially if we get one of the big fish,” said the East Kilbride manager.

“That raises the stakes for the re-arranged game. If you know who the prize is, that cranks up the pressure. If we draw one of the big teams, nobody wants to miss out on that.”

However, the other notable issue for East Kilbride caused by last Saturday’s postponement, is that Martin McBride, the forward, is now struggling to be available for the re-arranged match. McBride flies up from London every Friday night to play for East Kilbride but his work commitments rule out any midweek matches.

Ogilvie is hoping that McBride’s employer, Sir Robert McAlpine, the construction and civil engineers, will help East Kilbride to protect their cup dreams by giving the former Queen’s Park and Dumbarton striker some time off to face Lothian Thistle.

“Martin has been flying up from London to play for us every weekend since he joined a year ago,” explained Ogilvie.

“He comes up on a Friday night and goes back on the first flight every Monday. He moved to London for work in 2012.

“It was one of the first things I thought about when the game was called off on Saturday. I’ve spoken to Martin and he is going to ask his employer about getting time off.

“He is going back to work today (Mon) after being on honeymoon. He’s a project manager with McAlpine’s but he’s not out on site so hopefully they will look kindly on his request and let him fly up on Wednesday because he’s such an important player for us.

“I’d like to know who I can use as early as possible but when you have someone of Martin’s quality, I’d leave it till as late as possible to see if we can get him in the team. I would never rule him out. But work comes first for all of us in football at this level.