Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley says every player in his squad will have a part to play in their push to secure a promotion play-off place.
The Balmoral Stadium side are one place outside of the League One play-off spots, sitting fifth ahead of a visit from second-placed Hamilton Accies.
Cove are three points behind Montrose in fourth and four behind Alloa Athletic, who occupy third place.
A 1-0 win at Kelty Hearts last weekend helped Cove stay in the fight, but a downside to the victory saw defender Matty Shiels leave the pitch after only 33 minutes with an ankle injury.
It means Shiels will now miss this weekend’s home clash against Accies and Hartley confirmed it is still unclear how long he will be sidelined.
Cove will also be without Ola Lawal for the remainder of the season after his loan from Falkirk was terminated earlier this week, with Hartley saying his premature exit – having made only three league appearances – was “agreed by both parties.”
With seven games left to go, the Cove boss says he will be utilising all the players he has at his disposal.
Hartley said: “I haven’t really been able to pick a consistent team over the course of the season.
“If you are called upon, you need to be ready to go out and do your job. That is going to be a really important thing for us.
“The boys need to stay fit and healthy and we have to try and be as strong as we can.
“They have to train hard. That is the key thing. It is like situations we’ve already had with players this season – you might think you are out of the team and then all of a sudden you are back in it, so they have to always be working hard.
“They are paid to be a professional, whether that is full-time or part-time, and to stay fit so that they are ready when we need them to be.”
Tough test against Accies
Hartley is looking for Cove to replicate their winning display against Kelty Hearts when they welcome Accies to Balmoral Stadium on Saturday.
He knows to expect a difficult game against Hamilton, who they have beaten once and lost to twice in League One this season.
Hamilton currently sit 17 points behind leaders Falkirk, who will secure the league title this weekend if Hartley’s men beat Accies and the Bairns win when they host already-relegated Edinburgh City.
The Cove manager added: “For us, it is still all to play for. We want to back up what we did last week because it was a really strong performance from the team.
💫 A sublime Fraser Fyvie assist for Mitch Megginson to fire home#cinchL1 | @CoveRangersFC pic.twitter.com/hQAU9FT9BC
— SPFL (@spfl) March 18, 2024
“I was really pleased last week, but we know we will need to do it again against a really strong Hamilton team.
“Every game is going to be really important until the end of the season. It was important to get the three points last week and we know that is the case again this week.
“A win would really keep us in the mix. We want to go into the last game of the season with something left to play for and that is what we are trying to do with every game.”
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