Peterhead are a team transformed but must finish the job: Brown

Peterhead captain Jason Brown has issued a rallying cry ahead of the Blue Toon’s penultimate League Two game this season.

The Balmoor side, who sit second in the league with 56 points, travel to Ainslie Park today to face fourth-placed Spartans, who have only two points fewer.

A win could help consolidate Peterhead’s place in second ahead of a final-day showdown with Dumbarton, who are in third but level on points with the Blue Toon.

To be fighting for promotion, Brown says, reflects how far his side have come since finishing rock bottom of League One last season when they won only 16 points.

He said: “The boys definitely won’t be lacking in motivation.

“All year we have spoken about how the end goal has always been promotion. The guys know what is needed of them and we all want to do it for each other.

“We have come such a long way as a new team because there was a huge turnover in players.

“I think people forget where the club was actually at this time last year. We were probably one of the worst teams in Scotland, to be fair.

“The positivity around the club is down to all of us as individuals and as a team. We’ve managed to turn things around.

“The next few weeks will be about doing it for your team-mates.

“We’ve come this far and we’re looking to put icing on the cake with getting promoted.

“We know it is going to be tough, but we’ve had a good season – and credit has to go to the two managers Jordon (Brown) and Ryan (Strachan) who have been a breath of fresh air.”

Facing their promotion rivals in their final two matches of the regular league campaign, Brown hopes, will put Peterhead in good stead for the play-offs.

If they secure second place, they face whoever finishes third in League Two in the semi-final – and with home advantage in the second leg.

Brown said: “We know that we have got two tough games to finish the campaign and we want to do that by finishing it well for the play-offs.

“We know that these next two games are against teams who we could face again in a couple of weeks, so it is massively important to do well against them and maybe plant the seed in their heads now.

“We have already played each other three times, but it will give us a fresh look at each other.

“We’re looking forward to going down to Spartans on Saturday. They are a tough team and it is a tough venue, but the mood in the camp is really good.”

Peterhead travel to Edinburgh having lost only one of their last 14 games, with nine of those matches ending in draws.

Jason Brown in action for Peterhead.