Elgin City v Forfar Athletic – match preview

The ‘Loons’ head to Boroughbriggs on Saturday to face Elgin City, their seventh away fixture of their last ten outings.

Thankfully the Athies do have the luxury of two of their final three cinch league2 games of the campaign on home ‘soil.’

Forfar head into the fixture against City occupying the final play-off spot in the table and with that now comes a different type of pressure.

Speaking prior to training on Thursday evening, manager Ray McKinnon who has adopted a position of safety first admitted that the players will be required to adopt a different mindset in the final quartet of fixtures ahead.

Now that retention of our SPFL status has been guaranteed mathematically, Ray has promised the ‘Loons’ support that the management team and players will give it a real go in an attempt to get over the line as far as a top four placing is concerned come May 6^th.

If that is achieved and all hope it will, it will then simply be a case of seeing where it takes us and beyond.

However rest assured the manager and his staff are not getting to carried away, that will never be the case and Ray realises that yet again a tough ninety minutes lie ahead on Saturday against an Elgin team quite literally fighting for their lives at the wrong end of the table.

The Athies will go into the contest minus the services of Roberto Nditi who begins a two match suspension, while Adam Hutchinson is again ruled out through injury.   Hopes are high that the on loan defender will be fit for the visit of Bonnyrigg on Saturday week.

Motherwell loanee Logan Dunachie who made his debut at Stranraer last weekend is likely to retain his central defensive role while Max Gillies could be a ready made replacement for Roberto.

Good news however is that skipper Craig Slater also an absentee at Stair Park took a full part in Thursday night’s session and should return to the match day squad for the trip north.

Elgin City go into the contest having secured a point in a 1-1 draw at home to Stenhousemuir on Tuesday evening, which lifted them off the bottom rung of the league ‘ladder.’

This followed six successive defeats which resulted in long serving manager Gavin Price departing the scene following the 3-0 reverese in the last of those six matches away to Albion Rovers last weekend.

City will it  would appear go into Saturday’s contest with youth team coach Charles Charlesworth and the experienced Ross Draper at the helm.

Honours are even to date this campaign between the sides.

A 2-2 draw was the final outcome of the Station Park clash back in mid August, Ben Armour netting a first half winner just minutes before being sent off in the October meeting in Morayshire.

Elgin then picked up all three points courtesy of a stoppage time counter from Aaron Reid who incidentally also netted City’s goal on Tuesday evening against the Warriors at Forfar on January 2^nd.

That match was mired with controversy Tomas Brindley’s red card early in the second period the flashpoint, the offence downgraded to a yellow card on appeal.

Greg Soutar who had charge of our home game with Annan four weeks back is again the man in the middle tomorrow,

A reminder to ‘Loons’ supporters making the journey to Elgin and hopefully there will be quite a few that admission prices are £15 for the stand £10 concessions with £13/8 the charge for terracing admission.

Under 16’s are admitted free if accompanied by a paying adult.

The other four games in the cinch league2 tomorrow, all of which effect either the title, promotion or relegation issues are;- Annan Athletic v Albion Rovers, Bonnyrigg Rose v Dumbarton, East Fife v Stranraer, Stenhousemuir v Stirling Albion