Stenhousemuir v Forfar Athletic – match preview

The ‘Loons’ head to the Central Belt on Saturday to face Stenhousemuir in the cinch league2, the fixture having been brought forward from its original Christmas Eve date.

After Steven Swift was relieved of his managerial duties in midweek, they will face a home side under the temporary control of club captain Sean Crighton.

Despite having negotiated a path to round four of the Scottish Cup, three draws and two defeats in his last five league games in charge led to a parting of the ways.

The home side currently sit in seventh position in the league table on twenty points four more than the ‘Loons’ have accumulated to date.

The Forfar squad though will go into the game on a high following their victory over Albion Rovers last Saturday, the 1-0 final score line certainly no true reflection of the overall balance of the play on the day.

Tomas Brindlay is the only member of the Station Park playing staff definitely unavailable, with  no new injury worries reported following the Rovers fixture.

A couple of players have been affected by a sickness bug in midweek and they will be assessed prior to kick-off but hopes are high they will be ok.

In fact, the match day squad for Saturday will be boosted by the return of Roberto Nditi and Kyle Hutton who both missed out against Albion as they served a one-match suspension while long-term injury victim James Keatings has had another week of full training following his cameo sub appearance late in last Saturday’s contest.

Manager Ray McKinnon is not surprisingly looking forward to the fixture and the opportunity to build on last week’s performance.

The players have been in good form in training as you would expect and the manager has been delighted with the attitude, but at the same time Ray realises that as is the case with all games in this league attaining a result especially away from home is no easy task.

The Athies will also go into Saturday’s contest seeking revenge for a 2-1 defeat to the ‘Warriors’ in a drab affair back in late August at Station Park, a late counter from Roberto Nditi doing little to gloss over a substandard home performance.

Certainly, a victory in what is their penultimate match of the calendar year would definitely see Craig and his colleagues climb of the bottom of the league table with the East Fife v Bonnyrigg fixture the only other league2 game taking place on the day.

Iain Sneddon who had charge of our cup tie at Dunfermline two weeks back is again the man in the middle.

Hopefully, despite the time of year, a few Forfar fans will be heading to Ochilview to lend support to the cause.

A reminder that admission charges are;-

Adults £14
Concessions and 16/21 year olds £9
Under 16’s £5

Payment by cash at the turnstiles