McGrath hopes to end Blue Toon’s goal woes and push for play-offs

Kieran McGrath hopes he can supply the goals Peterhead need between now and the end of the season.

Since the lower leagues resumed last month the Blue Toon have netted just three times in their six fixtures.

They sit seventh in League One with six games remaining. The Buchan outfit are only four points adrift of the promotion play-off spots, but also only four points clear of the relegation play-off place.

Being more clinical in front of goal will be a priority in the coming weeks.

Striker McGrath – who joined on loan from Lowland League side East Kilbride last month – is hoping he can weigh in with goals before the end of the campaign.

The 20-year-old, who has made four sub appearances since arriving at Balmoor, said: “It’s been brilliant coming to the club and the boys have looked after me really well.

“Coming from East Kilbride I hadn’t played in so long, but the gaffer put faith in me by bringing me in and I’m thankful for that.

“I feel like my best attribute is scoring goals. If the ball is in the right position then I feel I’ll be there to put it away.”

Former Celtic youth player McGrath has had something of a nomadic football existence to date. He spent six months on loan from the Hoops to East Kilbride during the 2019-20 season.

Then last July he joined Icelandic top flight outfit Grotta. McGrath netted one goal in 12 appearances for Grotta, who were relegated, before returning to Scotland and joining East Kilbride in January after leaving Celtic.

He added: “I went out to Iceland to play and I did not bad and I enjoyed the experience.

“Not many 19-year-olds go out to Iceland and play so it was a big thing for me in terms of the experience and learning to live on my own and things.

“It was good from that side, in terms of the footballing side of it if I’d known more I might not have joined the team I did.

“But I don’t want to say anything bad about them because it was a really good experience.”

McGrath played for 45 minutes as Peterhead lost 3-0 to Partick Thistle on Saturday. Despite that setback he still feels the Blue Toon can push for a promotion play-off spot.

Jim McInally’s men face East Fife on Saturday (noon) and Falkirk next Tuesday before the league splits.

McGrath said: “We want to win every game and we want to do as best we can. We’ve got the players in the squad to push for the play-offs.

“It was disappointing against Partick because we are better than what we showed on Saturday. I felt in the first half we were in the game for long periods but then they got the first goal and the game just turned from there.

“They put us under a lot of pressure after that and it wasn’t good enough We can’t afford to dwell on it for too long, we’ve got to move onto the next game.”

Kieran McGrath, left, played 45 minutes on Saturday.