Bollan calls on players to dig deep for the win

Cowdenbeath manager Gary Bollan wants his players to make sure that visitors Stirling Albion are kept at arm’s length in the search for a play-off place.

The Central Park boss said: “Stirling have aspirations to catch us and get into the top four so we have to look to extend the seven-point advantage we have over them by winning this one. We have been strong at home recently and won our last three games there, but that will be tested as Stirling have won their last four away games.

“The pitch will be heavy after all the rain that there has been recently so our players will need to dig deep to get on top of our opponents.”

Bollan added: “They will be coming here disappointed at losing to Queen’s Park at home last weekend in what was another key game in the search for the top four. We are going into the game knowing that we should have had the three points from our game at Stenhousemuir.

“Missing the penalty at 2-1 just before half-time was a key moment as I would have felt confident about holding on to a two-goal cushion in the second half. As it turned out we were not under too much pressure after the break but a bit of magic from Gary Harkins allowed them to equalise.

“When you consider the penalty as well as the headed chances that Craig Barr and Kris Renton had, it feels like points dropped. However, you could also look at it and say it was out first away point since October and hopefully that means we will be stronger on the road going forward.”

Michael Herd remains out for the Blue Brazil with an ankle problem with Renton in line for his second start after returning from a fractured cheekbone, with Bollan saying: “Kris was used as a substitute at Queen’s Park a couple of weeks ago and we started him at Ochilview. That helped his match sharpness and he was flying in training this week.”