The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Assistant boss hails last week’s lay-off as players recover from injuries
After being frozen out last week, Arbroath will look to turn up the heat on Alloa this afternoon.
The Red Lichties’ scheduled fixture against Albion Rovers at Cliftonhill was postponed with the game falling victim to the wintry weather.
That enforced lay-off allowed several players on the Angus club’s lengthy injury list to recover, and it will be a revitalised squad who will travel to face Jim Goodwin’s Wasps today.
Alloa beat Forfar 2-0 last Saturday to ease above Arbroath into third spot in the League 1 table and that means this game now carries added significance for Dick Campbell’s men.
The manager’s brother and assistant boss Ian said last night: “The lay-off has been good for us as we now have most of our players fit again.
“Colin Hamilton, Gavin Swankie, Danny Denholm and Scott Martin are all back fit.
“Whether they play or not will be up to Dick.
“Obviously Josh Skelly is still out long term and Steven Doris is having his cruciate operation today.
“However, we are delighted to have the rest back.
“It is a really good feeling to almost have a full complement of players again.
“For three or four weeks there we have only had 11 or 12 outfield players training.
“Alloa is a hard, hard place to go to but we are all looking forward to it and the game will almost certainly be on because of their artificial surface.”
Campbell added: “Alloa are one of the best sides in the league but our away form is something we are proud of.
“I don’t think there is much between them and us.
“They will also be looking to challenge in the play-offs at the top.
“They seem to be improving and the manager there is doing a good job but it is down to what we do.
“We have had a lot of boys out which has disrupted our flow a little so we are looking to getting back to playing the way we can.
“It is a chance for us to go back up into third but we just take each game as it comes as all the teams are hard to beat in this league.
“We are going down there with a good team and it is up to us to go about our jobs properly.”