Tony Dingwall hopes to be back playing in League 2 sooner rather than later after joining Brora Rangers a few days after leaving Elgin City.
The 27-year-old former Ross County starlet, who joined City from Raith Rovers in 2020, left the Moray club last week before being swiftly snapped up by Highland League title-chasers Brora.
He has signed a two-year contract with Craig Campbell’s defending champions and came off the bench in the weekend’s 6-0 league rout of 10-man Clach.
With eight games remaining, Brora are three points behind leaders Fraserburgh and two behind Buckie Thistle, who each have a match in hand.
Dingwall admits Brora have no margin for error as they go to Forres Mechanics on Wednesday before facing Fraserburgh away this Saturday in the semis of the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup.
He said: “The gaffer spoke about it at the weekend. We can’t afford to slip up if we want a chance of winning the title.
“We have eight games left and we basically need to win every one of them. Our first focus is trying to get the win on Wednesday at Forres and we know we have a tough match at Buckie coming next Wednesday after our cup semi-final, which will also be massive in terms of the title.
“The boys have had a few slip-ups here and there and we know it’s going to be difficult to win it. We will take each match as it comes and keep ticking them off.
“The aim of the club, having spoken to the manager Craig Campbell and Ben Mackay, who has backed the club extremely well, is to go up via the play-offs.
“That sort of ambition is what you want to hear when you are signing for a club, having the aim of going up the leagues.”
Time right to move on from Elgin
Dingwall, meanwhile, didn’t want to delve into the details of his departure from Borough Briggs, simply saying: “After speaking to (manager) Gavin (Price), I felt it was better for me to move on. It was time for a fresh move.”
A recent five-match losing run for Elgin saw them slide close to bottom-placed Cowdenbeath.
However, a 3-1 victory over Stirling allied with the weekend’s 0-0 draw with promotion-hunting Forfar Athletic has given them breathing space and a rise up to seventh spot – 10 points clear of the 10th spot with eight games to go.
Dingwall is confident his pals at Borough Briggs won’t be dragged back into a late survival battle.
He added: “The boys at Elgin will be just fine. The squad is more than good enough to climb the table.
“The team is far too good to have been in the position they’ve been in. I don’t know quite how we ended up there.”
Balancing act for Forres boss
Forres manager Steven MacDonald admits he will have one eye on this weekend’s Highland League Cup semi-final when he picks his side to face Brora Rangers this evening.
The Can-Cans follow this evening’s visit of Brora with a home semi-final against Buckie Thistle at Mosset Park on Saturday.
MacDonald said: “We definitely have one eye on the semi-final on Saturday.
“I would be lying if I said differently.
“It is a big game for us so we have to look at how we approach the game.
“We have to put out a strong team because if we don’t we could end up on the wrong side of a hammering from Brora.
“We also don’t have the size of squad that the big clubs do so it is difficult to rotate players and make too many changes.
“We have also have a couple of knocks and Covid issues.
“We will have a competitive team on the park but we will try to keep things fresh.”
The Mosset Park men will head into the match with confidence following a 1-0 win against Inverurie Locos at the weekend.
He said: “It is another tough game but one we are looking forward to.
“Brora are in really good form so we know it will be difficult.
“They have just signed Tony Dingwall from Elgin City, who is a really good player.
“I’m sure most of the league would have been interested in Tony and Brora have shown how big a club they are by attracting a player like him.”