Arbroath can be ‘fairytale benchmark’
ARBROATH midfielder Michael McKenna insists they can become the template for other promotion-seeking clubs as they seek to prolong their fairytale season this evening. One of Scottish football’s great success stories this campaign, Dick Campbell’s part-timers go head-to-head with visitors Inverness in their bid to reach the Premiership play-off final with St Johnstone. Caley Thistle are the only team to have beaten them at home in the league this term but, after a goalless draw in the first leg in the Highlands, McKenna believes Arbroath can take another giant step nearer the top flight tonight. And the 31-year-old, who has been named cinch Championship Player of the Season after hitting 15 league goals, reckons other promotion hopefuls will have taken note of how a settled side has worked wonders for the Gayfield outfit. ‘I’m really, really happy to win this award, especially as I’ve also won the season award for the club and the PFA one for the league,’ said McKenna. ‘It’s been a great season for the team but it’s been building for a few years. A lot of the players have been together since the team was in League Two — I joined when we were in League One — and we know each other so well, which I think has been the key. ‘We’ve been improving every year as a team and, of course, the manager has a lot to do with that. ‘A lot of the full-time players in the Championship are on yearto-year contracts and many don’t get time to settle before they’re off somewhere else. I think we have capitalised on that this year. ‘There have been bigger turnovers at some clubs, the likes of Hamilton and Raith, and even Kilmarnock signed a few players in January. A lot of teams will maybe now look at us as the benchmark to give players longer contracts and see that having players for more than one season does actually pay off.’ McKenna insists he and his team-mates have no fears after the first leg, saying: ‘Inverness had a couple of chances but we felt comfortable. We’re going into the game confident as we’ve been scoring a lot of goals at home lately. ‘We’ve also been getting some big crowds, which has really helped create a great atmosphere — we fancy taking on anyone at home these days.’ Caley Thistle boss Billy Dodds played down talk of his team being tired having already take care of Partick Thistle in the play-offs. ‘We played the game on Tuesday and had them in the next day,’ he said ahead of the trip to the notoriously exposed Gayfield. ‘Those who had the less of the game did warm-up passing and whatever else they wanted to do, the ones who played most of it got a walk and a stretch. ‘It is all part of the rehab of the game. They are bright and well rested. ‘We played at Gayfield earlier in the season and it was a fantastic day with no wind and won 1-0, then we played there with the boomerang ball coming back at us. We handled that and had chances to win. We have to handle that again. ‘It will be a special occasion and our fans will add to it as they are going down in good numbers. We are looking forward to it whether it is windy or not.’
Kick-off: 7.45pm, Gayfield Park. TV: LIVE on BBC Scotland. Referee: Alan Muir.