Paul McLean hopes his Binos can scrape off the rust from a long lay-off to shine against Stranraer.
The Binos have endured a frustrating start to 2023 as their season stalled in a spate of weather enforced postponements.
And skipper McLean believes the Binos must dig in and work for the points as they play catch-up on League Two leaders Dumbarton.
The Sons sit four points ahead of Albion but the Stirling men have a game in hand over their rivals.
So it’s vital Albion keep the pressure on Dumbarton as the title races hots up.
He said: “It does take a bit of time to get that match sharpness back and although the guys have been doing their gym work and so on, nothing replicates a Saturday at three o’clock.
“It has been a disruptive period and we’ve been training on five-a-side pitches at nine o’clock some nights due to the weather.
“But we’re no different from six or seven other teams in the division and we just have to do our best to put it behind us.
“With the games not being on and the pitch not being the best, it might not be such a great game, but if we get the points then that’s all that matters to the fans.
“So it’s about digging in during January and February when it is like this.
“We’ve got to stick together as a squad and we know that we will end up playing Saturday-Tuesday coming up. That’s where the squad will be really tested .
“But we were injury free for the first time at the weekend and all of the boys will be needed.”
The Blues will be coming into the fixture high on confidence after a 3-1 win away at East Fife last week.
And the Stranraer team will carry happy memories of overcoming Albion on their own patch just last month.
As part of their efforts to stay sharp, the Binos squad got a run out in a bounce game against Cowdenbeath.
New boys Flynn Duffy and Greig Spence finally got to take to the pitch alongside their teammates for the first time in the much-needed bounce game.
McLean added: “I’ve played against Greig many a time and he knows where the goal is so that will be good for taking the pressure off Dale and the guys up there and gives the manager another option.
“Flynn has looked really good in training as well and he will give Cammy good competition at left-back and that will mean there is more fighting for positions which I’m sure will bring the best out in Cammy as well.
“It will be a tough game for sure on Saturday because there isn’t much between anyone in the league and anyone can beat anyone on any given day.
“We had a comfortable win at home in the first game and then they had a comfortable win, if I’m honest, down there.
“They’ve got some new additions and some young boys in on loan and they looked good last week against East Fife in the clips we’ve seen, but I’m sure their manager will be saying that it’s a tough game for them as well.”
Kick off at Forthbank is 3pm.
