Stirling Albion manager Kevin Rutkiewicz was left frustrated after his side suffered their second defeat in a row at the weekend.
The Binos were beaten 1-0 by Albion Rovers and failed to score in cinch League Two for the first time this season, having gone down 3-1 at home to Stenhousemuir the previous week.
Next up is a big game against Edinburgh City at Forthbank on Saturday followed by the visit of Tranent Juniors in a massive Scottish Cup third-round tie on November 27.
Stirling remain third in the table after losing out in Coatbridge but are now only three points ahead of Stenhousemuir and four in front of Edinburgh in the play-off battle. Unbeaten Kelty Hearts look unstoppable and are 10 points clear of Forfar Athletic at the top.
Dale Carrick missed a penalty against Albion Rovers and Adam Cummins was sent off late on, ruling him out of this weekend’s match. Defenders Paul McLean and Martin McNiff are on the injury list and player/assistant James Creaney was forced off in the second half at the Reigart Stadium but Jordan McGregor is available after serving a one-match ban.
Stirling drew 2-2 with Edinburgh City at Ainslie Park in September and were the better team on the night but Gary Naysmith’s men go into this one on the back of a good 3-1 win over Stranraer.
Looking back on Saturday’s defeat to Albion Rovers, which was played out in reduced but sufficient light after a partial floodlight failure 60 minutes in, Rutkiewicz said: “We probably deserved a point but you have to give Albion great credit for the way they defended. They showed real grit and determination and we didn’t ask enough questions when they went down to 10 men.
“We made the wrong decisions when we were in good areas because the anxiety had crept in but we didn’t deal with their front line and that is a worry.
“The overall picture is that we are sitting third in the league but we are going through a bad patch; there is no doubt about that. From the high of Kelty a couple of weeks ago we are in a different place.
“We talked last week after the Stenhousemuir game about desire but I thought the boys worked hard. We lacked a bit of quality and the pitch played a part but it’s the same for both teams. Rovers dropped off the game and sat in with two banks when they went down to 10 men with 20 minutes to go but it’s our job to break them down.
“We went with three up top going for energy and pace and we came out the traps quickly. Jack Leitch forced a great save from Cammy Binnie but we let Albion grow into the game. They disrupted us and they unsettled us – there was a warning before their goal but we didn’t take it. The penalty miss was a bad one and we had other chances when we could have done better.
“The boys have proven they are a good team with what they did in the first quarter but you can’t rest on that and we need to get out of this rut. It’s a big game coming up now against Edinburgh.”
