KEEP UP AWAY DAY FORM
Forth Valley have route to success all mapped out All roads lead north as Binos look to keep play-off dream alive
Stirling Albion head for Elgin on Saturday bidding to maintain their excellent recent away form and keep alive their slim play-off hopes.
Their top-four ambitions have been badly dented by Forthbank failures against Forfar Athletic and Cowdenbeath this month but Dave Mackay’s men have won four on the trot on their travels.
The Binos are unbeaten on the road in Ladbrokes League 2 since losing 4-1 at Annan at the end of January and have racked up consecutive victories against Cowdenbeath, Montrose, Clyde and Berwick Rangers.
They sit four points behind fourth-placed Elgin and three below Montrose, with a trip to Edinburgh City and a final-day home fixture with title-chasing Arbroath still to come.
Mackay said: “It was always going to be difficult to make the play-offs and it’s even harder after last week’s game against Cowdenbeath when we were very poor.
“All we can do is try to win the three games that are left and see where it takes us. You would probably make Montrose the favourites at the moment given the run they are on while Elgin have been struggling to get results recently.
“I think their bad run started when we beat them at the end of February and losing their top scorer Shane Sutherland to injury has obviously been a big blow but it will be a difficult game up there.
“We’ve done well away from home recently and not so well at home but SEE PAGE 54 I don’t really know why that is. We’ll need to play a lot better than we did against Cowdenbeath if we are to have any chance but it’s important we finish the season strongly.
“Contracts for next season are potentially at stake and we will have to decide soon who we would like to keep and who will be moving on.”
French forward Dylan Nguene Bikey has been unable to add to the nine goals he scored during December and January since returning on loan from Hearts.
Mackay added: “Dylan almost didn’t make the game last week because he took a knock at Berwick but he had a fitness test and we were able to put him on the bench. I hadn’t planned to put him on so early but we had to change things with the way the game was going.
“His confidence is maybe a bit low at the moment given that he’s not played much for Hearts but we’ve not given him great service since he returned to the club. In two of those games the whole team played poorly but hopefully it will be a different story on Saturday.”
The former St Johnstone skipper’s first game in charge was a dramatic 3-2 win at Elgin back in November, when full-back Jamie Mills was an unlikely hero with a last-gasp goal and the Binos boss will be hoping to make it a Borough Briggs double when they head north this weekend.
Central defender Ross Smith is again set to miss out through injury, as are Frazer Wright, Willie Robertson, Andy Little and Jack McCue but onloan Dundee midfielder Calvin Colquhoun has a chance of starting after being on the bench last week.