LET’S BOUNCE STRAIGHT BACK Rutkiewicz rallies his troops for capital trip
Stirling Albion manager Kevin Rutkiewicz has urged his side to bounce back from last week’s defeat to Elgin City when they face Edinburgh City at Ainslie Park tomorrow.
The Binos have twice lost 1-0 to the Citizens this season but their recent away form has been excellent, with three consecutive victories at Stenhousemuir, Albion Rovers and Annan.
Last weekend’s 2-1 loss to Elgin leaves Stirling two points outside the play-offs in what is shaping up as a four-way battle for one place as Cove Rangers, Edinburgh and Cowdenbeath look strong in the top three positions.
Edinburgh have lost just once at home in League 2, against Queen’s Park earlier this month, winning eight of their 10 matches and drawing the other.
Binos boss Rutkiewicz said: “It’s important we bounce back straight away after losing last week and keep getting points on the board. We have won three of our last four games so we are still in good form and we won at Edinburgh last year so there is no reason we can’t do it again.
“I’ve watched the Elgin game again and I don’t think we were as poor as I thought in the first hour.
“Elgin were better than us in that period but they didn’t create too many chances and we played some decent stuff – Darryl Duffy had a great chance when it was 0-0.”
Midfielder Kevin Nicoll is again set to miss out with the foot injury he picked up at Annan a fortnight ago and keepers Cammy Binnie and Blair Currie remain sidelined.
Rutkiewicz has so far just signed goalkeeper Nicky Hogarth on loan from Rangers this month and is not expecting any more new arrivals before the window closes at midnight tonight.
He added: “I don’t think we will do anything before the Edinburgh game but we have until the end of February to bring in loan players and we still need another goalkeeper.”
One player who left Forthbank this week was striker Lewis Hawke. He arrived in the summer from Queen’s Park after scoring 10 times for the Spiders in 2018/19.
However, he failed to find the net in 12 appearances for Stirling, half of which were as a substitute.
His last outing was as a substitute against Clyde in the Scottish Cup in November and he had not even made the squad in recent weeks, after falling behind Dylan Mackin, Darryl Duffy, Josh Peters, Sean Heaver and Dylan Bikey in the forward areas.
Hawke was released from his contract on Wednesday and is expected to sign for another club in the coming days.
Rutkiewicz said: “Lewis is a good player but for whatever reason it has not worked out for him here and sometimes that happens in football.
“He’s not a player I was desperate to lose but we have good options in that area and he wants to be playing.
“I want to thank Lewis for his efforts at Stirling Albion. He was an excellent professional and I’m sure he will be a success at his next club.
“We wish him all the very best for the future.”
• See more on the four-way battle for the play-offs between Stirling Albion, Elgin City, Queen’s Park and Annan Athletic on page 46.