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With just five matches remaining of our debut season in the cinch Championship, manager Paul Hartley and some senior players are calling for a unified approach as the club attempts to retain second tier status.

They still firmly believe we can achieve that goal, but only if everyone involved with Cove Rangers pulls together. Paul says with the pressure on, this is no time for division, we all have to be united:

“I know it has been a tough time, that happens in football, and it can be difficult turning things around when you have that negative momentum. Results haven’t been good enough, and that’s why we find ourselves in the position we are, but the only way we are going to get out of this situation is if everyone plays their part.”

“As manager, I have to take responsibility, and so do my coaching staff and the players. We have let the fans down this season, we cannot hide away from that fact, but when you’re up against it, that’s when you need your supporters more than ever.

“The Cove fans have always been brilliant. Over the last few years, they have been able to enjoy the success the players have brought to the club, so I can understand their frustration at how this campaign has gone. Many of them have never known such a poor run of results, and their loyalty has been amazing, but we need them to continue to back the team over the last few matches. That could be crucial to our survival.”

As a thank you, the directors have decided to pay for the supporters’ club buses for the upcoming away games at Hamilton, Arbroath and Dundee, and when he heard of the plan, Paul stepped in, and has agreed he and his coaching staff will help to foot the bill:

“It just feels like the right thing to do. The fans have travelled the country giving their backing, and we haven’t done enough to repay them. This is our way of acknowledging that; and thanking them for the support they have given us.”

Experienced central defender Mark Reynolds has suffered plenty ups and downs during his career. He is honest enough to admit that the team has not performed as it should have done, but he too reinforces his gaffer’s call for unity and a single-minded determination:

“When your backs are against the wall, that’s when it becomes even more important that everyone sticks together. As a group of players, we’ve got to put our hands up and accept that we’ve been nowhere near the standards we’ve set in recent years, but it is still in our own hands; we can still do this.

“When everything is stacked against you, that’s when you need to show real character. In the dressing room, we all realise that we have to do our talking on the pitch, we have now got to prove we have what it takes.

“The fans have been superb ever since I’ve been at this club, and they’ve turned up and supported us despite the results they’ve had to endure recently. I can assure them we are determined to repay them for all their backing.”

Captain Mitch Megginson has been at the forefront of everything Cove Rangers have achieved since signing for the club. He shares the frustration of the fans, but hopes to right a few wrongs during the run-in:

“I know a lot of the supporters, the ones who have followed us home and away over the years, and I know how much this has been hurting them. They have been used to seeing us winning, we as players have been used to winning, so it has been hard to take, but we’ve still got a chance to survive, and we have to keep targeting 8^th place.

“Knowing the fans are behind us will be massive in the last few matches. As a group, given the run we’ve been on, confidence does take a hit, and that’s when you need the support most of all.

“We still have the desire and we’re all ready to fight for this, for the club and for the fans. The goal this season was to stay in the Championship and out on the pitch we’ll be working hard to do that in the five remaining games.”

The weekend encounter with Hamilton always looked like being a pivotal match, but given our respective positions, it has now taken on even more importance. Paul Hartley says he and the players will be working hard all week to prepare properly for it, and he hopes the Cove fans will turn out in numbers to play their part:

“We were all in it together when we were winning games and lifting trophies, and we need exactly the same mindset now we’re at the other end of the table. With the backing of the supporters, I have no doubt the players can rediscover the form we all know they are capable of.

“If we can do that, and pick up the three points, it will put us in a much better place ahead of the last four matches.”

Any fans who wish to take up the offer of free travel for the three away games can book up through the Cove Rangers Supporters Facebook page or by calling Craig McIntosh on 07738243983.

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