It’s a long trek north on league business for Stirling Albion tonight – but manager Darren Young insists his side is raring to go after a fortnight-long hiatus.
The Binos head to Moray to take on Elgin City, with both sides currently occupying play-off positions in the League Two standings.
The match – one of several across the SPFL moved forward from their initial Christmas Eve scheduling – will see Stirling hopefully return to action after being starved of competitive games since the 3-1 loss at Stranraer on December 3.
It promises to be a challenging encounter with the home side having lost twice all season at Borough Briggs and boasting the league’s top goalscorer Kane Hester in their ranks.
Hester has already racked up 13 goals in the league so far this season, three ahead of Albion’s Dale Carrick, whose strong season has him third in the goalscoring charts.
Young admits the winter weather has made preparation difficult, but knows his players are up for the challenge – including marhsalling hotshot hitman Hester.
The gaffer said: “We’re definitely keen to get back to action because it’s been a wee while.
“We had a bounce game recently and we’ve been jumping back and forward between a few places for training – we were at the five-a-sides in Glasgow and then we got booked at the Oriam which is great because it’s indoors.
“It’s not ideal preparations but we’re used to it and we know it happens at this time of year, but one of the positives is that most of the squad is now fit and available.
“We’ve had to adapt to things but we’ve had good training sessions this week and we’re looking forward to it.
“Elgin have done well at home this season and have a very good record which is why they are sitting third in the league.
“We will need to keep an eye on him for sure [Hester] – he’s sharp, quick and a good finisher so it’s about managing to stop the supply into him and that’s a job that we need to do from the front all the way back and hope the guys are on form.”
The squad will be without Adam Cummins who continues to recover from injury and midfielder Jack Leitch will also miss out due to suspension.
However, full-back Cammy Clark has served his time for his red card against Annan and will return to the matchday squad.
Young added: “We need the three points to get back on track and bounce back from the Stranraer game.”
