Loons urged to maintain momentum

Brechin boss Barry Smith is hoping for more home comfort when his team take on high-flying Forfar at the Glebe this afternoon.

Second-bottom City face the secondtop Loons on the back of two draws againststenhousemuirlastsaturdayand then the 0-0 stalemate with East Fife on Tuesday night.

Smith was far from impressed as his players failed to capitalise on a two-man advantage against Stenny but he was pleased with the response in midweek.

Now, he is looking for his team to take all three points against Jim Weir’s men – just as they did the last time the Angus sides met at the Glebe back in November when Brechin won 4-0.

Smithsaid:“adrawwasprobablyafair result against East Fife as I don’t think either team did enough to win the game.

“We asked the players for a response after the Stenny match and we got one.

“They showed the right attitude to work hard against an East Fife side who are doing well this season.

“It was also pleasing to get a clean sheet. We moved Lewis (Toshney) back into the centre of defence and he put in a good performance.

“I think it was the first time since I became Brechin manager that I have had a full bench so it is good to have those options and competition for places. Everybody has to be at the top of their game to stay in the team.”

Smith added: “But overall, we take the confidence from getting a point against a good East Fife team and it is important we maintain the same type of performance and workrate to get something against Forfar.

“We had an excellent result the last time at the Glebe and we want to put on a similarperformanceandgetthreepoints on Saturday.

“Forfar are obviously doing extremely well at the moment and are a good attacking force so we have to make sure we stop their threats and try to exploit any weaknesses they have.”

Dene Shields, Callum Tapping and Jordan Sinclair will miss out through injury but Sean Burns returns to the squad.

Forfar have given themselves a fantastic platform to make the play-offs with a third quarter of the season surge – but manager Jim Weir is taking nothing for granted.

The Loons have built up an 11-point lead on the fifth placed team in League One after putting their foot to the accelerator when the season hit the halfway point.

And Weir wants to make sure his players keep up their momentum at Glebe Park this afternoon.

“We stressed how big the last quarter was. The first priority was getting away from the relegation zone and then pushing up the table as far as we could.

“By winning 22 points the players have definitely gone beyond the target we set them. To have only one defeat in that time was brilliant. I don’t take anything in life for granted, though, especially not in football.

“A lot can happen. A team below us couldgoonagreatrunandwecouldstart dropping points.

“Our last trip to Brechin, which we lost 4-0, shows what can happen because we had been on a good run then.”

Weir has a full squad available again. “The players are full of confidence just now,” added Weir.

“We controlled the game well and wereruthlesswhenchancescamealong.”