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With just five games left in the regular season, the team faces a crucial ninety minutes in Hamilton as we bid to retain our Championship status.

With both relegation rivals having picked up victories in the past week, Cove Rangers have slipped to the foot of the table, two points behind Accies and five adrift of Arbroath, and with time running out, and having lost six on the spin, the players are well aware they are going to have to stop the rot.

Long-serving midfielder Connor Scully admits it has not been good enough, and knows the squad has to quickly address that:

“It has been tough. It’s a time when we all need to stick together as a team, and as a club. It’s obviously been a lot different to what I’ve been used to, being near the bottom, so it’s a time when we need each other, we need to be a strong unit.”

Having spent his decade at the club battling for league titles, and having got used to that mindset, that is what Connor believes the players have to apply to the situation we find ourselves in:

“That’s the mentality we need. If you can challenge at the top end, and come through that, there’s no reason why you can’t do it at the other end of the table. It’s all about staying in the league, that was the main objective this season, and it’s still there for us.

“We need to be strong, and we need the fans behind us.”

More than anything, we need to be better defensively, as all too often in the past few months games have run away from us before the side has had a chance to get a foothold:

“Going in at half time a couple of goals down each week is a killer and that’s something we need to sort out. Getting that first goal is so important in this division, particularly given where we are and the run we’ve been on.”

“Personally, I’m also trying to get back on the goal trail again and I know that would be a big help to the team. Having Blair (Yule) back in alongside me brings that extra energy to the midfield, and hopefully that’ll help free me up to make more runs into the box.”

Having been thrashed 7-0 by Dundee last weekend, Hamilton bounced back in midweek with a surprise victory in Kirkcaldy, and Connor says if Accies can do it, there’s no reason why Cove cannot also rediscover their winning ways:

“We’ve got five games left to turn it around, and we need everyone on board. The mood in the dressing room is okay. Obviously, we know where we are, and we know what we’ve got to do.

“We say that every week, but now we’ve got to show it on the pitch; that’s all that matters in the final games of the season. It’s that time when you have to try to scrape a win any way you can.”

“They’re an established Championship team and we’re new to the league, but like us, they’ve struggled, and they’ll know the importance of this match too. We need to perform, and it would be nice to think we might get a break or two along the way because on top of everything else, the luck has gone against us so many times this season.”

Manager Paul Hartley says all at the club are well aware of the predicament we are in, and it is time for everyone to step up:

“There’s now no room for error, the league table doesn’t lie. We simply have to win; our aim has to be to get to the last match still with a chance of staying up. This is now a five game season.

“I firmly believe we can still do it. I’ve seen things change just like that, all it takes is one game and the momentum can swing. We all need to remain positive and put in a performance against Hamilton.”

Connor agrees, and knows it is going to take a concerted, unified approach at New Douglas Park:

“After everything we’ve gone through, we’ve learned a lot as a club, and about ourselves as individuals, and coming in after the final whistle and not having won is a strange feeling, one we’ve unfortunately had to get used to.”

That is something Connor hopes not to have to experience in Lanarkshire, and he believes our travelling fans can play a big part in achieving that:

“Their backing is massive! Me being a Cove loon, I see them when I’m out walking the dog and I get their side of it, how they’re feeling, and what it would mean to them for us to stay in the Championship.

“We need them in the final few games, and we need to repay the fans for their loyalty by putting in the performances.”

Fraser Fyvie and Brody Paterson will again be missing, but it is hoped both Morgyn Neill and Leighton McIntosh will be fit to join the squad.

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