Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Captain has top four Rovers faith
MARK PIRIE
Captain Declan Byrne believes Albion Rovers can still reach the League Two top four playoff spots.
The Cliftonhill outfit are just two points above the bottom of League Two and struggling Brechin and 10 points behind the promotion spots.
The 23-year-old insists an unbeaten run would see a quick turnaround following a win over Queen’s Park and draw with Elgin ahead of the clash with Annan this weekend.
He said: “The games haven’t been going our way this season but the performances have been there.
“The work and effort has been there from the team. The Queen’s Park game shows that we can score goals, we should have won by three or four.
“It was a clean sheet and a step in the right direction for the team as a whole.
“We are right up for it and want to go three or four games unbeaten.
“The goals for the season haven’t changed in my opinion and there isn’t that much between us and fourth.
“We’ve already seen teams get a couple of wins together and go up a few places and we just need our run.
“We have the quality in the dressing room but we just haven’t had the break that we would have hoped for in some games.
“The gaffer has made it clear to us that it’s his expectation that we make the play-off places. The results haven’t been good enough for that but the players and the management still have that expectation.”
Having been handed the armband earlier in the campaign, Byrne has been one of the stand-out performers for
Rovers this term.
The forward doesn’t feel like he has had to change his game with the added responsibility on the park.
He added: “I don’t think I’ve had to change my game too much.
“I think the gaffer gave me the role because I’m a big talker on the pitch so it’s not as if I’ve had to change that about my game.
“I always talk to the boys on the park, but I guess it is a bit more responsibility to try and encourage the team.
“I don’t feel like I have had to change my game too much.”