DON’T DOWN TOOLS NOW
Rutkiewicz demands more from his players ahead of play-off run-in
Stirling Albion manager Kevin Rutkiewicz has urged his side to show their promotion credentials when they face Cowdenbeath at Central Park tomorrow.
The Binos boss was unhappy with the performance in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat to Stranraer at Forthbank when a win would have been a huge step towards securing a play-off spot.
Stirling remain third in the table going into the Blue Brazil clash, which has a noon kick-off due to the funeral of HRH Prince Philip taking place at 3pm.
Albion conclude their regular season at home to Edinburgh City on Tuesday, kick-off 7.45pm, before the post-split fixtures begin next Saturday.
Gary Naysmith’s City are sitting second in the League Two standings after a 2-1 home victory over bottom club Brechin City on Tuesday.
Tomorrow’s opponents
Cowdenbeath had been on a poor run since football returned but Gary Bollan’s men beat Elgin City 1-0 last weekend and drew 0-0 with Albion Rovers in midweek.
Stirling won 1-0 when the sides met at Forthbank in December and triumphed 4-1 on their last visit to Fife in February of last year.
The Binos will welcome back top scorer Andy Ryan, who has bagged ten goals this term, after a one-match ban but defender Jordan McGregor is suspended after his midweek red card and fellow central defenders Paul McLean and Aldin El-Zubaidi remain on the injury list.
Albion’s away form this season has been excellent, with their only defeat coming to leaders Queen’s Park at Falkirk a fortnight ago and they were 2-1 winners at Annan last Saturday.
Stranraer revived their promotion hopes with a significant success at Stirling on Tuesday and Rutkiewicz felt his players were well below their best against Stevie Farrell’s side, whose winning goal came from former Bino Andy Stirling 12 minutes after the interval.
He said: “Great credit to Stranraer but that was a poor performance from us. I’ll defend the players more often than not but from the get-go that wasn’t good enough. It was a big night for us and we have failed to deliver.
“We had a better spell towards the end of the first half but, overall, I felt there was a lethargy about us and we didn’t move the ball well or play through the lines.
“We didn’t cope with Stranraer and I’ve got a headache for tomorrow because we need to adjust that – we were miles off it.”