The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Campbell reins in Lichties title talk
Arbroath boss Dick Campbell insists he will be making sure everyone at the club keeps their feet firmly planted on the ground despite the Red Lichties’ blistering start to the season.
The table-toppers face Stewart Petrie’s Montrose at Gayfield in another eagerly-anticipated Angus derby this afternoon with the home side still unbeaten in League 1 this season, sitting seven points ahead of Raith Rovers in second.
Arbroath won again last week, against East Fife, but Campbell is determined to ram home the message that there are still months of the season left and plenty of potential twists and turns – as shown when his side won the League 2 title a couple of seasons ago.
The veteran manager said: “It was a good win last week and another clean sheet which is always pleasing.
“The goals are also being shared around the team so all in all it has been a good start to the season but nobody is getting ahead of themselves and I will be making sure it stays that way.
“It is worth remembering that everyone was sure Forfar would win League 2 two seasons ago when we were 11 points behind them but we ended up clinching the title.
“So all my focus is on making sure the players at Arbroath keep their feet firmly on the ground.
“We are just looking to the next game and a very tough derby against Montrose. Stewart is a very close friend of mine, while my sons Ross and Iain are there as well.
“But family and friendship will go out the window for the 90 minutes in the derby. There should be a great crowd at Gayfield so hopefully it will be a cracking match.”
Arbroath will be without on-loan Dunfermline striker Callum Smith who is out for several weeks after breaking his wrist.
Meanwhile, Petrie is determined his side will give a much better account of themselves than they did when the sides met on the first day of the season at Links Park.
The Gable Endies were unfurling the League 2 championship flag that day but the party fell flat as their bitter rivals won 4-0.
Since then, Petrie’s team have taken time to adjust to League 1 but have won their last two games in a row against Brechin and Dumbarton.
The manager said: “The guys were excellent last week and we defended well from front to back against Dumbarton.
“Going forward we probably could have done a bit better but I was still really happy to come away with a win. They have some real quality and were able to bring boys who had played in the Premiership off the bench.
“So it was a great three points and psychologically – although the league is so tight – it was nice to get off the bottom of the table.
“Arbroath are top of the league for a reason so we will not kid on how tough it will be on Saturday.
“It is still a game we are relishing. We are not under any pressure at all going down there.
“Arbroath will be firm favourites and will be looking to pick up the three points but we will give it a go and hopefully give a better account of ourselves than we did in the first game when they were 4-0 winners. We will certainly hope it is a lot closer than that.”
On-loan Aberdeen player Chris Antoniazzi is a doubt after suffering a facial knock last week.