The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Previews of tonight’s first leg clashes in the SPFL play-offs
Forfar manager determined to make most of second chance against Annan
Forfar manager Gary Bollan has insisted his team has already moved on from its title heartbreak.
The Loons led the League Two table for 34 rounds of fixtures, only to be knocked off their perch by Arbroath on the penultimate weekend of the campaign.
And, after losing to Annan on the final day, they were unable to get first place back from their Angus rivals.
However, Forfar now have a second chance of promotion.
Tonight they play the first leg of their play-off semi-final against the side who beat them 4-2 at the weekend.
And Bollan believes his players are in the right frame of mind for the new challenge.
“We had the players in on Monday night for a training session and the mood was decent,” he said. “Of course everyone was disappointed at not winning the league.
“However, that is gone now and we have to move on.
“We have to ensure that any negativity does not linger because we have a second chance of promotion and we want to take it.
“We still very much have the chance to have a very successful season.”
The fact that they are coming up against the team who beat them four days ago is not concerning the Station Park boss.
“Losing 4-2 on Saturday is immaterial,” he pointed out.
“Our season now comes down to the next two games and making sure we get through to the play-off final.
“Our season would then be about the two games in the final.
“We do not need to worry about form as we actually played really well at the weekend, especially in the opening stages of the game. We had the ball in the net only for it to be ruled out for offside.
“Jim Lister had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. However, it was saved.
“Big Jim was really upset about that miss and was blaming himself for what went on afterwards as Annan had three shots and scored three times.
“He has been told to banish any thoughts of that and just concentrate on getting us through this semi-final.”
Bollan has a full squad to choose from.