Loons must bounce back, says Malcolm

Forfar boss eyes improvement for visit of Clyde

Stuart Malcolm has reminded his players that Forfar’s fate will be decided by results against the teams in their area of the table.

The Loons were left reeling last Saturday after losing 6-0 to title-chasing Falkirk.

The Bairns scored four times in the last 10 minutes to make the scoreline harsher on the Angus men than perhaps the visitors deserved.

Nevertheless, Malcolm is looking for a marked improvement from his players when they host Clyde at Station Park this afternoon.

The Bully Wee are one of the aforementioned sides keeping Forfar company.

Indeed, a home win today would see the hosts move to within three points of the visitors.

Malcolm said: “Our season won’t be decided by games against Falkirk but by matches against the sides closer to us in the league. I am obviously looking for the players to bounce back and I am sure they can do so against Clyde.

“What we will not be doing is feeling sorry for ourselves.

“Maybe we didn’t deserve to lose by so many and every game other than the Falkirk one has been decided by tiny margins.

“Still, we have to ensure that we defend much better than we did last Saturday.

“The players will be going out to win the game, of course, but if we defend properly then we can build on that.”

Malcolm could hand home debuts to no fewer than five players – Steven Doris, Bobby Barr, Bernard Coll, Robbie Leitch and Ryan Shanley

Meanwhile experienced midfielder Ross Forbes has left the Loons to return to Dumbarton.

The former Dunfermline and Morton player had found balancing his job as a railway engineer with travel to Forfar for training on a Thursday and matches a difficult balance and requested a move to a club in the west of the country.