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The team continues its promotion push this weekend with a home game against Annan Athletic, out to extend a three-match unbeaten league run.

Overall, the players have suffered a single defeat in their last eight League One encounters, form which has seen us move to within three points of the top of the table.

With a number of those around us going head-to-head, there is the opportunity to further strengthen our position, but Annan have themselves moved into contention after winning their last two against Kelty Hearts and Dumbarton, and Paul Hartley knows they can offer a threat:

“They’re never an easy team to play against; we found that out on the first game of the season (a 3-1 defeat at Balmoral). At one stage they were down at the bottom, but now they’re just five points off the playoffs, and we will show them the same respect we show every opponent.”

With just eleven points separating the top eight teams, the division remains as cut-throat as ever, and Paul says it is all about remaining in the mix:

“At this stage you’re just jockeying for position and it’s all about making sure you’re in there for the final quarter of the season.”

To do so, we are going to have to maintain the standards set in recent months. Even in defeat at Palmerston at the start of January, our only league loss since the start of December, the team looked good, and the manager wants to keep up that consistency:

“We played well against Montrose in midweek, and scored a wonder goal through Findlay Marshall, who I’d been encouraging to get back on the scoresheet.

“Although we didn’t create as many chances on Tuesday, we kept up the performance level, and we’ve been good to watch the last few months. I haven’t made too many changes, there’s been no need, but we will have to freshen up for Saturday.

“My hand might be forced a bit, as we need to see how Mitch Megginson and Fraser Fyvie are after limping off, but we’ve got Liam Parker coming back and Quinn Coulson made a good impact when he came on against Montrose.

“We have the smallest squad in the division, so we have to hope there aren’t too many injuries. What we do have is quality, and I’ve got full trust in the players. A lot of us have been over the course before, we know what is going to be needed during the run-in, and that counts for a lot.”

Mikey Doyle is one of those, and the experienced defender is set for his 50^th league appearance for the club at the weekend. Since his debut, as a trialist against Queen of the South in October 2023, Mikey has missed just one match, through suspension, and the manager sees him as a vital team member:

“Michael does my head in at times, because he talks a lot, sometimes it feels like just for the sake of talking, but he’s an organiser, and a great lad to have around the dressing room. Having gone into central defence alongside Arron Darge, he has done a job for me, and his performance levels have been really good, really consistent.

“He also helps the young players, which we’re going to need over the next few months.

“We have defended well, and we’ve also had to thank Nick Suman at times. He pulled off a great one-handed save against Montrose that kept us in the game, and overall he’s been really impressive, just like Balint Demus was when he was in. We have two good young keepers, and it’s great knowing that as we head towards the business end.”

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