O’Keefe’s goal is to answer Price’s call

Elgin City winger Conor O’Keefe says his early season goalscoring form shows he is feeling at home within Gavin Price’s side.

O’Keefe has netted twice in Elgin’s opening three matches, following up a goal in a 2- 0 Betfred Cup win over League One side Montrose with another strike in last weekend’s 4-1 League Two victory over Stranraer.

The 22-year-old, who is from Paisley, opted to remain with the Black and Whites in the summer following a successful first season at Borough Briggs.

Although O’Keefe failed to find the net in 23 games last term, having suffered an ankle injury early in the campaign, the winger felt his pace was well suited to Price’s attacking style.

The former St Mirren player, who has also had spells with Stranraer and Annan, feels he can meet Price’s challenge of adding more goals to his game.

O’Keefe said: “It really suits me here. The manager says I need to play high and wide all the time and it will hopefully bring their full back out.

“If the full back stays I’ve got space to get the ball, and if the full back doesn’t stay that gives Kane Hester the space that allows him to run in behind.

“It has been a l ong overdue couple of goals.

“I got a bad injury last year which stunted me a bit, but I should hopefully be getting a few goals this season. I was getting assists last year and putting in some good performances, but he says if I can add a few goals we will be a much stronger team.

“In the summer I had offers closer to home, but the manager just knows how I play. I fit into his system and I know he trusts me.

“That was a big part of coming back.”

O’Keefe feels Elgin have picked up from where they left off last season, having been in the play-off positions when the virus cut last season short.

He added: “Last year I think we were all pretty confident we had a good chance of going up in the play- offs with the momentum we were carrying.

“I think it was key to keep most of the players. We all know the shape and the way the manager wants to play. We all fit into the system perfectly.

“Another few additions has helped to strengthen us, so we are looking good so far. Smart Osadolor and Josh Peters have scored goals at this level before, so I think we have definitely strengthened.

“We’ve got quite a big squad now as well. There are a lot of boys who can just step in.”

City play their first home league match today when they host a Brechin City side which was hammered 5-1 by Edinburgh City last weekend, with O’Keefe eager to get on the front foot against Mark Wilson’s men.

O’Keefe added: “Every game in this league is tough, but we are not really going to look into past results much.

“We will be looking to attack and get another win under our belt.

“We were really good at home last year, we played a lot of free-flowing attacking football at Borough Briggs. We played a lot higher and more attacking when we were at home and we seemed to cause teams problems, so we are going to continue doing that.”

City boss Price has been encouraged by O’Keefe’s early- season impact, and he said: “He’s not just scoring goals, he’s getting in goalscoring positions and could have had a couple more against Stranraer on Saturday.

“With the pace he’s got, for me he should always be doing that.”

WINGING IN: Conor O’Keefe gives Livingston’s Declan Gallagher the slip during his St Mirren days.