Peterhead have eight games left to secure their place in League 1 and midfielder Scott Brown believes the Blue Toon will be left firmly in the relegation mire if they lose at Albion Rovers today.
The Buchan men are in eighth place in the division, one point clear of today’s opponents, who have played two games less.
Brown regards the trip to Cliftonhill as one of the biggest games of the season for his side.
He said: “We’re at the stage now where it’s simply a case of rolling the sleeves up and getting stuck in. We’re in must-win territory at Albion Rovers.
“If we win it lifts the pressure a little but if we lose we are going to be deep in a relegation dogfight, so it’s a massive game for us.”
The Blue Toon’s hopes of winning a promotion play-off place have dimmed with Brechin’s 1-0 win at Balmoor last weekend opening up a 10 point gap between fourth place and eighth.
Promotion now seems unlikely but Brown is refusing to give up hope just yet.
He said: “It’s been a really strange season as we don’t feel as if there have been too many games where we’ve been outplayed but at the same time we haven’t really beaten teams 3-0 or 4-0.
“It has been really tight at times and there have been some matches where we feel we haven’t had the rub of the green and things have not gone our way but we can’t worry about that now.
“We’ve got eight games left and we have to put it right and make sure we are not relegated or in a relegation play-off place.
“Normally, a team in our position would need to win four or five games to be safe but if we can finish strongly then who knows how high up the table we’ll be?”
Peterhead’s hopes of winning their crucial game today have been bolstered by the return of leading scorer Rory McAllister.
Brown hopes the forward’s return from suspension can swing the game in his club’s favour today.
He said: “Rory’s record is unbelievable at this level and has shown in a lot of games he can be the difference for us.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Nicky Riley, who did well up front last week, but Rory gives us a presence and a cutting edge and hopefully he can come back and help us get the win we need.”