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This weekend sees the team back on the road again as we make the trip to The Indodrill to take on Alloa Athletic.

It will be just a fifth league meeting of the sides, Cove emerging unbeaten during the 2021-22 campaign with three wins and a draw, and following the painful reversal at home to Queen of the South last Saturday, manager Paul Hartley is demanding a big improvement from his side:

“Especially second half, I thought it was very disappointing, we didn’t cause them too many problems and we just didn’t move the ball quickly enough. That’s something we need to do, and that has been the focus in training this week.

“You can have all the possession you like, which we did, but it’s what you do with it. They defended really deep, and our movement and quality simply wasn’t good enough.”

Given the huge turnover there has been over the summer, it is perhaps understandable that the side is still finding its feet, but Paul says that is no excuse:

“That may be an issue, but it’s important we find that consistency you need to give yourselves a chance of winning the game, and we also need to be more clinical. Queens had three chances last week and scored twice; that’s the kind of percentage that gets you the points.

“I know what this league is like, in fact I think it’s even harder this season given the teams that are in it, so we need to up our levels if we are to compete.

“It’s still early, but it’s a tough, competitive division where everyone can beat anyone else. If you’re not on it, you’re not going to win matches.”

On-loan Ipswich Town central defender Cameron Stewart is one of the many players settling in at a new club and having come on at half-time in the opener at Hamilton, he has started the last three matches.

“I’m really enjoying it, training with the lads has been really good and playing in the games is exactly what I wanted to do coming here. The style of football is certainly different from what I’ve been used to, definitely more physical up here than down south, but it’s a part of the game I need to learn and it’s good for my football education.

“It’s been a bit of a learning curve going into a men’s team, playing at this level, but that’s what I needed at this stage, and the sessions are really good, high intensity.

“I thought we were a bit unlucky last week, probably the better team, but we’re giving away cheap goals and we need to cut that out. When we do, the results will come and we’ll climb up the table.

“It’s a new team, but it feels as if it’s coming together. We’ve prepared well this week and I’m looking forward to Saturday. If we play the way we can, there’s no reason why we can’t take the points.”

Alloa won on the opening day at Palmerston but have lost three on the bounce since. They have been beaten in all four homes games this season and have only won once there since mid-March.

They are a wounded animal right now, but the manager knows they can still be dangerous:

“It’s not been a good start for them, but they won’t make it easy for us. What we have to do is match the performance at Montrose in our last away match; if we do that, we’ll be giving ourselves a real good chance.”

Injuries have again become a major headache for Paul. Josh Kerr will be out for around three months after limping off last week, scans revealed he has a broken ankle, and Fraser Fyvie suffered a setback which will keep him sidelined. Summer signing Luke Strachan is also months away from a comeback.

On the plus side, Blair Yule is edging ever closer to a return to competitive action:

“He has been running for the last few weeks and has now joined in properly in training. All things being well, we’ll get him up to speed, and when he comes back it will be like a new signing for us.”

Fans planning on travelling down to support the team can buy their tickets at the Alloa Athletic website.

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