Brechin City manager Ray McKinnon reckons his men are more than ready for promotion rivals Forfar in Saturday’s Angus derby at Glebe Park.
City missed out on a new club record when they lost 3-0 at Peterhead last weekend, ending a 17-match unbeaten run - something the club also achieved in 1980/81.
The top four in League 1 are separated by just five points as the climax to the season approaches, with Stranraer on 52 points, Morton and Forfar on 51 and Brechin on 47, with Airdrie, Peterhead and Dunfermline also still harbouring promotion hopes.
McKinnon said: “There has been no sense of disappointment from me after losing last week as the boys have been terrific this season. Some people may have been disappointed at the run ending but I do not see it that way.
“To go five months undefeated and equal the club record of 17 games is something to be celebrated, especially when you consider that we are in a really competitive league.
“Last Saturday a lot of things conspired against us as we had Paul McLean and Craig Molloy suspended. I received phone calls on Saturday morning to say that Steven Jackson and Gary Fusco, who could have come in for them, had both taken ill and would miss the game.
“We had chances and missed them. We then lost a couple of goals where the wind was a factor, so it was just not our day.
“There are seven teams going for promotion, and it is pretty wide open, so to put an unbeaten run together was great. I was talking to the Peterhead manager Jim McInally during the week and the two of us were saying what a terrifically crazy league this is to play in.
“Every team has something to play for - apart from the sides chasing promotion, Stirling are looking to get off the bottom and Ayr United and Stenhousemuir are looking to avoid relegation issues.”
As for tomorrow’s meeting with the Loons, McKinnon said: “Forfar are a right good team and it is a derby game which makes it even tougher. We have done well against them in the last couple of games and will look to do that again.
“Gavin Swankie scored a right good goal for them last week to defeat Stranraer and that is not a surprise as he is one of the most dangerous players in the league. However, we have quickly picked ourselves up and are ready to go again.”
Craig Stewart
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