Elgin City will seek to end a three-year winless streak against Edinburgh City on Tuesday which would inject a fresh bid to join the promotion hunt in League Two.
The capital club have an impressive record against the Black and Whites.
They have gone 12 matches without losing this fixture, with the last Elgin win coming in August 2018 when Shane Sutherland, now back at Caley Thistle, netted the only goal.
Tomorrow night we take on @EdinburghCityFC In the Cinch League 2 🏆
📍Borough Briggs
🕖 7:45pm Kick Off
🎟 Tickets can be purchased via the FanBase App.
Or you can get your tickets at the cash gates 💵
📺 Livestream – https://t.co/ZJJdqFs4Z7Come on City! 🖤⚽️ pic.twitter.com/gvuvdFOgIP
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) November 22, 2021
That said, there have been five draws in the last dozen meetings and many of the matches have been settled by just one goal in favour of Edinburgh.
When they last met, in early August, two Danny Handling goals in the first seven minutes earned Gary Naysmith’s side a 2-0 win at Ainslie Park.
Away day Blues for Elgin at Stranraer
On Saturday, ninth-placed Elgin failed to build on their 1-0 win over rock-bottom Cowdenbeath when they fell by the same scoreline away to Stranraer at the weekend.
A Craig Ross goal early in the second half earned the Blues full points to open up a four-point advantage over Elgin, who also lost Kane Hester to a red card as a result of two bookings in a game where five other visiting players were booked by whistler Chris Graham.
That’s why Tuesday’s rearranged home contest against old rivals Edinburgh has extra significance as Elgin seek to haul themselves away from second-bottom spot and closer to the group chasing the promotion play-off positions.
A victory for Edinburgh would see them surge into third position above Stirling Albion, who they defeated 2-1 on Saturday, while even a draw would see them leapfrog Annan Athletic into fourth.
Boss Price calls for clinical touch
Elgin manager Gavin Price is urging his players to turn positive play into vital goals in their bid to climb League Two.
He said: “We should certainly have got something from the game at Stranraer and there is a sense of frustration that we’re now another game down that we have not been able to score in. The good thing about football is there is another game coming around for you.
“While I don’t think we played particularly well on Saturday, I still felt we did enough to take something from it. We’re not being clinical enough in the final third and we need to start doing that if we are to win games.”
FT at Stair Park
Stranraer 1 – 0 Elgin City
On to Tuesdays home tie vs Edinburgh City next ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/2rkPImoYcK
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) November 20, 2021
Price didn’t dwell on the club’s poor record against Edinburgh, adding: “We’re at home, so we just need to go and win the game, simple as that.
“We will go into it in a positive frame of mind and believe what we’re doing is right. The points will come. I know I keep saying it.
“Football can have a bad habit of knocking you, but sometimes you don’t deserve it. You have to keep the faith, don’t panic and keep doing the things that will get us success. We will be going all out to get the points on Tuesday.”
Hester misses the Edinburgh clash due to suspension, while on-loan Cove Rangers midfielder Ross Draper is sidelined for this one.
Kelty follow Edinburgh for Elgin
It is a Scottish Cup weekend, so Elgin have no match this Saturday after being knocked out by Clydebank in the last round.
They return to action on December 4 with a league match against runaway leaders Kelty Hearts, who visit Borough Briggs.
The Moray team have been the closest to landing a defeat on the Fifers when a stoppage-time Kallum Higginbotham goal earned Kelty a 1-1 draw after an Archie MacPhee penalty had City on course for victory in September.