Match Preview – Stranraer v Forfar Athletic

Ladbrokes League 1

Venue – Stair Park

Date – Saturday, December 1st – kick-off 3 p.m.

Admission Prices – Adults £15 Concessions £10 (65 & over) Secondary School Age £5 Primary School Age - Free

League Positions – Stranraer - 6th place – 16 points from 14 games Forfar Athletic – 4th place – 21 points from 14 games

Previous result this season;- Forfar Athletic 0 Stranraer 0 at Station Park on 18th August

Summary – The ‘Loons’ make the long trek to Stranraer on Saturday in search of their sixth win in the last seven outings in league and cup.

They will face a home side still no doubt rejoicing in their 1-0 cup tie success at Gayfield last Saturday courtesy of a 76th-minute close-range effort from Ian Smith.

That brought to an end a mixed November for Steve Farrell and his squad, a 2-0 win at Stenhousemuir being followed by a 2-1 home defeat to Airdrie, before a 90th-minute goal gave them a share of the points at Montrose two weeks back.

Stranraer are another of the sides in our league, Forfar also being one who have a host of new faces in their ranks this term, fourteen at the last count, Celtic loanee PJ Crossan the last just prior to the closure of the League1/2 registration window in September.

The Station Park management team and playing squad will be hoping to keep up their excellent form of late at Stair Park, prior to the eagerly anticipated home derbies with Arbroath and Montrose on the 8th and 15th of the month.

Since late October Jim Weir has had the luxury of a fairly settled side and as far as the starting line-up is concerned for Saturday, little change is expected from the Dumbarton and BSC games.

Ross Cunningham ineligible for the cup tie will return to bolster squad numbers while on the injury front Matthew Aitken is due to get tidy up surgery this week and could be back in action in early January, all going well.

The Brechin game apart, the Station Park outfit have looked to be a solid unit in recent times with to be fair goals also likely to come from all departments. The recent run has indeed been a real team effort.

They will hope for a continuation of this form and a positive result which will be no easy task against what is always a well-drilled home side, in what could well be tricky conditions in Wigtownshire.

Match Officials – Referee – Alan Newlands Assistants – Michael Banks & Robert Thomson.