Strathspey Thistle prepare for big six pointer against basement side Fort William
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The Jags will have to re-jig their rearguard as they prepare for a crucial six pointer in their bid to avoid the drop from the Highland League.
Manager Charlie Brown and his players face Fort William this Saturday with the basement club one place below them knowing that victory will open up an 11 points cushion with games starting to run out.
The Grantown club is currently eight points clear on 10 points and with a vastly superior goal difference.
The fixture is scheduled away at Claggan Park in Fort William but the West Coast side is playing all of this season's games as reverse fixtures due to the condition of their pitch meaning that Seafield Park will host the match.
Despite a 4-0 defeat to sixth-placed Formartine on Saturday, Brown took some encouragement from the performance.
Two late goals from ex-Jags man Scott Lisle in the 85th minute and and Graeme Rodger in the 88th added some gloss to the scoreline for the hosts.
The visitors had suffered a setback 15 minutes from the final whistle when right back Andrew Skinner was given his marching orders with a second yellow for dissent having been booked for a foul in the latter part of the first half. Brown told the Strathy: “The boys played really well in the first half and also at the start of the second half.
“After Andrew Skinner was sent off at 2-0 they started to find the gaps and got another two goals but I was really pleased with how hard the side worked. We had a good training session on Tuesday and hopefully another good one tomorrow night (Thursday).”
On the sending off, Brown said: “I think it was through frustration more than anything else. It was a silly one to pick up.”
Brown also thought that the home side’s second goal – Rodger’s first on the hour mark – was dubious.
“There was a hint of offside and a handball,” he said. “It is another one that has gone against us. The referee admitted it had hit the players hand but said it was not intentional.”
Daniel Graeme Park had opened the scoring early on in the seventh minute.
Skinner will be banned for the crunch clash as attention now turns to the Fort William game in Grantown. Brown said: “It is a game if we put in a good performance then we should be able to take something from it.
“But Fort William have recently brought in a lot of new players that no-one knew about and have started to find form even if this has not yet been reflected in results.”
Brown does think that there will be relegation from the league this season – the first that the dreaded drop has been in place. He said: “It is something that we have one eye on.
“The players are giving their all and understand the cost of going down. The committee is working hard behind the scenes to bring in players for next season and we need to make sure that we doing it on the field this season.”
Loanee forward Shane Harkness is out for several weeks after fracturing his elbow at home.
