The Light Blues square off against Airdrieonians as they bid to reach the quarter-finals of the SPFL Trust Trophy as the only B team remaining in the competition.
Speaking to the media ahead of tomorrow evening’s clash, McCallum previewed a tantalising fixture for his young side: “When you’re playing against better level of opposition, it naturally brings more interest which we’re keen to be a part of.
“Hopefully it will be a decent atmosphere within the game and, most importantly for us, our individual players show what their capabilities are.
“The challenge for them is not only to impress the supporters but the new first-team manager as well which needs to be at the forefront of their minds.
“[The crowd] aspect adds to the feeling for the young players as well, so they get that understanding of it not only being their family and friends coming along, but rather it’s people who want to get to know them.
“It adds a little bit of demand and stress into the game because that’s part of their development.
“It’s a knockout game and ultimately tomorrow night is about winning, but we’ll try and do it in the right way if we can.”
The young Gers are sure to be tested against an Airdrieonians side renowned for their possession-based football under the tutelage of former Gers midfielder Rhys McCabe.
However, McCallum believes his side can take encouragement from their route to the last 16, recording victories over Spartans, Stenhousemuir and, in their most recent encounter in Greenock, League One side Alloa Athletic.
He continued: “We have enjoyed this competition and clearly we know if we want to get ourselves challenged against higher level teams, such as Scottish Championship sides, then you need to keep winning.
“We know this will be a tough game. Airdrie are a team who are sitting mid-table in the Championship, but they’re capable of beating most teams when they get it right on the day.
“From our point of view, we have an ever-changing squad when it comes to these games; it’s not as if we run with the same team week in, week out. It’s dependent on what the first-team need, and obviously the first-team have a game on Thursday which will naturally take priority in these moments.
“We know the capabilities of the group that we’ll have, and it’s up to us to make sure we reach our highest potential within the game itself and that Airdrie know they will have to defend.
“It will be an entertaining game and one where we may have to spend a little bit of time without the ball, but hopefully they will have the same feeling when we have the ball as well.”
You can buy your tickets, priced at £10 for adults and just £5 for concessions, to get along and back the young Gers in their bid to reach the quarter-finals via the Fanbase app here!
Supporters should select the ‘Home Main Stand’ option when selecting their tickets.