Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley is determined to keep the focus on his own club as they fight to stay in the Championship.
The League One champions are eighth in the division but could find themselves occupying the relegation play-off place before tomorrow’s trip to Raith Rovers if Arbroath beat Morton tonight.
With only two points separating the bottom three of Cove, Hamilton and the Red Lichties, a tense finish to the season lies ahead.
But Hartley is interested only in the fortunes of his own team.
He said: “We know where we are. It’s about the next game all the time.
“We can’t look at the teams below us. We have to look at what we can do on Saturday to win a game. We need to pick up points, that’s a must.
“The confidence is still good in the squad, there’s still good spirit there and we can’t get too down. One result could change things for us.”
⏩ 𝙉𝙀𝙓𝙏 𝙐𝙋…
A trip to Stark's Park to take on Raith Rovers!
Ticket information can be found here 👇
— Cove Rangers FC (@CoveRangersFC) March 14, 2023
Step up has been a big one for Cove
Cove’s precarious position comes as no surprise to Hartley, who led the club to promotion from League Two to the second tier before leaving for a brief spell at Hartlepool United earlier in the season.
He insists the step up from League One was always going to be a big one for the club.
He said: “It was always going to be a massive step up for the squad.
“Having two nights a week with the players is a big jump but we’re playing against experienced players and experienced teams.
“The jump has been big but the players know that. They didn’t think it would be an easy league where they would win 15 to 20 games like they have been used to.
“But we’ve given ourselves a chance of staying in the division. If we had said at the start of the season we would have a chance of staying up we would have taken it.”
Hartley wants players to take heart from Spiders display
Raith Rovers are the second of three challenging away fixtures in a row for Hartley’s men but he believes his side can take confidence from their showing in a losing effort against league leaders Queen’s Park last week.
He said: “I think Raith are one of the better footballing teams in the division. They have good players and are a threat in the final third.
“I’ve seen a lot of them this year and they have really dangerous players from middle to front.
“We’ve got three tough away games but we need to get points on the board between now and the end of the season.
“We played really well last Friday. We were excellent for the majority of the game then we conceded an own-goal.
“When you are down near the bottom you don’t get that break, that wee bit of luck, but we created a lot of chances, the organisation, shape and attitude was brilliant.
“We had a lot of quality on the pitch last week and showed it at times in the game against Queen’s Park.
“I spoke to Owen Coyle after the game and he said we had given them one of their hardest games of the season.
“We have to create more chances and take them, while keeping the back door shut.”
Key players on the comeback trail
Mitch Megginson is in line for a return after rejoining training while Blair Yule is also close to a return.
Hartley said: “Blair has done some training but not with a view to being involved in Saturday.
“He has been a big miss for us and if we can get Blair back that is us back to full strength between now and the rest of the season.”
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