The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Niven not giving up the ghost despite lowly position
City woe:
Elgin City captain David Niven has not given up hope of his team making it into the League 2 play-offs.
The Borough Briggs side is second bottom of the division following Thursday's 2-1 defeat to local rivals Peterhead.
Ross Jack's men have suffered three consecutive defeats but are only six points behind fourth-placed Albion Rovers.
Niven says his side can make up thatdeficit quickly with apositive sequence of results.
He said: “It is not impossible to be where we want to be. The defeat to Peterhead makes it slightly harder but we still have confidence that we can make it.
“We are six points behind the playoff spotsandwehave a gameinhand of some of the teams above us.
“We have lost the last three games but we have been the better side for large spells in those matches and came away with nothing.
“We need to pick ourselves up again in our next match at home to Clyde. That is a game we will need to win.”
Niven admits his side's poor run of form has coincided with plenty of bad luck on the park.
GoalkeeperRaymondJellemawas sent off in the 2-1 defeat to Annan Athletic in a questionable decision which Elgin have now appealed.
Fortunefailed toimprovefor Elgin against the Blue Toon when Graeme Sharp's deflected goal levelled the scores after Niven had given the visitors the lead at Balmoor before Peterhead midfielder Jamie Redman wonthe match with virtually the last kick of the game.
Niven added: “We thought last week against Annan was tough to take with the way they got back in
“We need to pick ourselves up again in our next match”
the game but the defeat to Peterhead was probably 10 times worse.
“I thought we did enough to take something from that match.
“Inthe second half theyhada spell on top and took their chances. That is the difference at this stage of the season and why they are top of the league. If we can't take our own chances and defend like we did for the second Peterhead goal then you are going to be made to pay.
“When I scored I did think it may have been a bit too early as they still had a lot of time to come back at us. It was nice to score but disappointing to come away from the match with nothing.”