Elgin City goalkeeper Kyle Gourlay is keen to extend his loan deal with the Black and Whites beyond the turn of the year.
Gourlay is due to return to parent club Dundee when the January transfer window opens having made 18 appearances for the Moray outfit since joining in the summer, with Elgin manager Gavin Price keen to keep him at Borough Briggs.
The 20-year-old has previously had loan spells with Clyde and Airdrie, but having enjoyed the most sustained run of first team football of his career thus far, Gourlay hopes the Dark Blues will allow him to remain at Elgin.
Gourlay said: “I have really enjoyed playing every week and making saves. The loan expires at the start of January so I just need to take it from there, but I’m looking to extend the loan.
“I will see what the next few weeks brings.
“It’s a lot better and more competitive playing first team football, it’s a big step up when boys need wins.
“You can feel it as soon as you’re in the league with the team you’re at that you need to win games – you want to be in a position to go for the play-offs.
“There’s always something you need to do to win a game, and it means a lot more than playing for the reserves. Between training with the Dundee first team and getting games at the same time, I can’t see it being much better than that.”
City take on Queen’s Park at Hampden Park today, with Gourlay relishing his first experience of playing at the national stadium.
He added: “I have missed Hampden every time I’ve been out on loan. I’ve heard there’s a good buzz about the place even though it’s a 50,000 seater stadium. I’m looking forward to it.
“I think their big pitch will suit us a lot better for playing football. We see ourselves as a football playing side, especially with the boys we’ve got up front.
“With Jon-Paul McGovern in midfield, we control games in that area. I think it will be a really tough game. We came from behind when we played them at home.
“They were a good team, quite physical, it will be tough but I think we’ve got more than enough to beat them. Most of our wins have come away from home.”
Elgin remain fourth in the table despite last weekend’s 4-1 loss to Edinburgh City, with Gourlay adding: “Every time we’ve had a bad result, everyone around us has joined us on that bad run. We have stayed in position in the play-offs.
“It has definitely helped us but if we were to have had a few more wins, we could be sitting a lot better in the play-off positions with a higher points tally.”