Stirling Albion face two big games in the space of four days as the League Two promotion race gathers pace.
Kevin Rutkiewicz’s side travel to Borough Briggs to play Elgin City on Saturday then welcome Stenhousemuir to Forthbank on Tuesday.
Stranraer and Edinburgh City boosted their play-off hopes with midweek wins and two positive results in the coming week would put Stirling in a strong position.
The Binos went down 2-0 to Raith Rovers in Tuesday’s Scottish Cup tie but beat Brechin City 1-0 last weekend and have suffered only one defeat in League Two this season.
That setback was against Elgin at Forthbank in November but Gavin Price’s men have made a disappointing return to action, losing to Edinburgh City last weekend before a 4-0 reverse against Ayr United in their Scottish Cup clash on Tuesday.
Elgin have beaten Albion four times in the last 14 months and they would go above Stirling on goal difference if they can extend that winning sequence to five.
Rutkiewicz made eight changes to the team beaten by Raith and is again likely to freshen up his side as the demanding schedule of matches continues.
He said: “We worked hard against Raith and it was disappointing to lose the two goals in the manner that we did. They are a good side and we made a few changes – some of them were enforced with Paul McLean picking up an injury and Andy Ryan and Jordan McGregor as well.
“Blair Currie has not had a lot of football and it was good for Daryll Meggatt to get his debut and for Jack Leitch to get minutes on the pitch after missing the Brechin game through suspension.
“We got it wrong as a management team tactically in the first half and I thought we looked much better in the second half when we went back to our more familiar shape. Kieran Moore had a good chance in the first half and I would love us to have gone ahead to see how Raith reacted.
“There is no bigger game than the next one and that is Elgin. We’ve only lost once in ten games in the league and we must approach Elgin like we are playing a Championship side again because we know how good they can be.”
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Rovers boss John McGlynn said: “Stirling didn’t make it easy for us and had a couple of chances in the first half, but none in the second and I thought we controlled the game. It was a good night’s work and we had a lot of chances. We made five changes and freshened up the whole midfield and played a different formation. It was a potential banana skin but we got the job done.”
