Tense times

I must confess I never thought we would be in this position - I don’t think any of us did. With the quality of players brought in last summer (Williams, Murray, Lynch, Anderson) - not to mention the likes of Paton and Gilmour who arrived more recently - there is simply no way we should even be contemplating relegation. Yet that is the situation in which we find ourselves - not only contemplating the drop, but drinking in the last chance saloon: we simply have to beat Alloa if we are to have any realistic chance of avoiding the play-offs.

My work recently took my to Nigeria, and - during the time I spent there - Stenny’s form showed considerable improvement; it then proceeded to decline upon my return. Whilst this suggests I should probably remain as far away from our matches as possible, in practice I am doing the exact opposite - i.e. travelling to Recreation Park on Saturday. (I am in fact heading north from London as I write this.)

As I write I am deliberately ignoring the ‘elephant in the room’ (or, in this case, the ineligible midfielder in the room). I don’t know if there is any truth in the rumours about Gilmour’s international clearance (or lack thereof), and somehow I suspect not - our officials are some of the most diligent around, and I would be surprised if they have let us down. In any case I am hopeful of avoiding a points deduction - we are due some luck at disciplinary hearings, not least after the gross injustice we suffered at the hands of Dunfermline last season.

I have already warned my boss that - if we fail to win on Saturday - I will probably be off sick next week. I do genuinely believe, though, that we will pick up the points. In quite simple terms, we are better than Alloa - we just have to prove it. Roll on Saturday…