Stirling University football team face a challenging trip to Leicestershire, having been drawn away to Loughborough in the British Universities Championship.

Having won the Scottish championship, Stirling know they will have to repeat that winning form against a team which was been British champions four times in recent seasons, most recently in 2006.

Raleigh Gowrie, Sports Performance Manager, said: "It's the hardest draw that we could get! However, it's a good marker to see how far we have progressed and we can benchmark the standard of our current squad against one of the very best student teams in the country. Hopefully our players can respond to the challenge, perform to the very best of their abilities and act as ambassadors for Stirling University with their commitment and spirit."

Although Loughborough University lost their first two matches of the season, they bounced back strongly and have been unbeaten since then to win the Northern championship by a point.  Like Stirling, who entered the East of Scotland League this season, Loughborough also play in a semi-professional league, and are currently top of the Midland Combination Premier Division.

The match is scheduled to be played on Wednesday 11 February and the winners go into the quarter finals.

Stirling, Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence, offered football scholarships for the first time this season and currently have eight football scholars.

www.stir.ac.uk