Nerves set to be shredded as trio at bottom face day of reckoning

JIMMY Nicholl has urged his Cowdenbeath side to find composure and belief amidst the relegation worries that will shroud this afternoon’s nervy encounter with Alloa Athletic.

The Fifers travel to bottom side Alloa knowing a victory will ensure they cannot be relegated but a draw could see them succumb to a play-off and a defeat could result in the disaster of them dropping out of the Championship – if second bottom Livingston earn a point at home to Queen of the South. The Almondvale club – deducted five points earlier this season for financial irregularities – have a far superior goal difference over Cowdenbeath.

It is the kind of occasion that will grip supporters throughout Scottish football but could turn into a sporting nightmare for those involved.

However, Nicholl is convinced his team, who have suffered back-to-back defeats to Hearts and Livingston in recent weeks when they could have ensured their safety, will survive – if they can stay calm in the face of the dire consequences of a loss.

He said: “You would be cracking up every single minute of the day if you thought too hard about the circumstances of this game. Each team could be safe, in the play-offs or relegated depending on what happens.

“Ourselves, Alloa and Livingston are all in the same boat and we know the situation we are in, we don’t need to keeping reminding the players of that.

“What we need to remind them of is the ability they’ve got and to try and ensure they are calm on the day.

“If the tension gets to them and they don’t compose themselves then we will make life very difficult for ourselves.

“We’ve got to get the players on the ball and to play football. We can’t let the occasion get to us and end up playing football at 100 mph. We’ve got to believe we’ll be okay and I do believe we’ll be okay.”

Greig Spence always feared Alloa’s season would come down to a final-day relegation showdown with Cowdenbeath.

Danny Lennon’s side plummeted to the foot of the Championship table last weekend making their need for points all the more stark this afternoon. They know if they lose they will be relegated, and even a draw will not be enough to avoid demotion if Livingston avoid defeat. However, Alloa will avoid automatically slipping into League 1 if they can beat Cowdenbeath and will also sidestep a nervy play-off spot if Livingston fail to win.

The permutations are varied but Spence insists there is only one thing on Alloa’s minds today. He said: “It’s a massive game. I think from the start of the season, when we looked at the fixtures, we knew it would be a massive game and that it would probably come down to the last game of the season.

“Whoever wins can stay up or go into the play-offs and whoever loses is looking at relegation.

“But I think you’ve got to forget about everything that’s happened during the season and actually treat this as a cup final, because that’s basically what it is.

“All our hard work has brought us to this point in the season, so hopefully we can get three points. If we can stay in the division after this weekend it would be a massive achievement. That was our goal at the start of the season.”