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Daily Record
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Paul Thomson

If Albion Rovers won the Champions League we still wouldn't get any credit, says Brian Reid after side shocked Kelty

Brian Reid reckons Albion Rovers don't get the credit they deserve after stunning Kelty Hearts in the Premier Sports Cup.

And the Cliftonhill gaffer joked that if his side won the Champions League they'd still be tipped for relegation the next season.

League Two Rovers beat the League One outfit 2-0 at New Central Park thanks to an Ayrton Sonkur strike and a Charlie Reilly penalty in the last 10 minutes of the Group G clash.

It earned them a first win in the group after narrow defeats to Premiership Livingston (2-3) and Championship side Cove Rangers (2-1) and Reid insists his side should get plenty of plaudits for their performances so far.

He said: "Kelty are a good team and won League Two comfortably last season and I think a lot of people expected us to get zero points with the group we are in.

"It's funny. It doesn't matter what Albion Rovers do, season after season, I don't think we get very much credit from anyone for what we do.

"Albion Rovers could win the Champions League and people would still make us favourites for relegation the next season.

"I don't think we get enough credit for what we do.

"It's no secret that we've probably had the lowest budget in the league for the last few years but we keep punching above our weight to keep doing what we are doing.

"I think we actually played slightly better against Cove last week and got nothing. The least we deserved there was a draw, maybe even a win, because we created better chances than them.

"On Saturday I think it was 60-40 in terms of possession in Kelty's favour but going away to their ground you expect that.

"Football isn't all about possession and when I look back at the stats, we had 10 shots and 9 on target, while they had 12 shots and 3 on target.

"That's a difference that's not really been spoken about either.

"It was a dogged performance. We didn't really get going in the first half, but in the second half we grew stronger and that is a credit to the players' fitness and attitude.

"We were never out the game, we were strong defensively, we had a good shape about us, our organisation was good and we've come away with a clean sheet at a difficult venue.

"We could maybe have made a wee cherry on top with Charlie Reilly through one-on-one at the end but the goalie makes a great save to stop it being 3-0.

"It was nice to see a good support through there for us as well and it was a good day all round."

Rovers star Charlie Reilly was on target (Stuart Vance/ReachPlc)

Rovers moved up to third in Group G after the result and close out their campaign away to leaders Inverness on Tuesday night, with Rovers being the idle team in Saturday's final round of fixtures.

It's another tall order for Reid's part-timers against a side who reached the Premiership play-off final last term, but he insists his side will head to the Highlands with confidence.

"Inverness are undefeated in their games so far. They went and beat Livingston and then beat Kelty, plus Inverness were very unlucky not to get promoted to the Premiership last season.

"So that shows you where they are at so it will be a very tough one for us.

"As a part-time club it's been tough because we've not had a bit of breathing space in the group, playing Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday.

"But we've got to go up there and perform to as good a level as we can. We go there with a bit of belief in ourselves."

Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.

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