Russell Dingwall is on target to feature in 44 Elgin City games this season – and he wants to help the side finish with a hat-trick of victories.
The midfielder, 24, has played in all but one of the club’s matches in 2021/22, which he admits has been a frustrating campaign for all.
Last week’s fine 2-0 win at Stirling Albion finally secured their place in League 2 after this weekend’s visitors Cowdenbeath kept digging out results to stay in touch at the foot of the table.
However, the Blue Brazil have now finished 10th and will play the winners of the Bonnyrigg Ross v Fraserburgh pyramid play-off to decide which club kicks off next season in the fourth-tier.
Game time boost for Dingwall
Former Ross County player Dingwall is satisfied by racking up a near-perfect playing record under manager Gavin Price and feels it underlines why he joined the club in 2019.
He said: “I have played every game, apart from one at New Year when I had Covid.
“I trained all week and was back for that game, but I was on the bench. Apart from that, I’ve been involved in them all.
“A massive reason I joined Elgin in the first place was to play as often as I could. To play as consistently as I have, I can’t really ask for much more.”
Season never got going for Elgin City
Despite the high level of game-time, Dingwall is frustrated by Elgin sitting eighth in the league with two games remaining, although Covid hitting the camp last summer did have a knock-on effect.
He added: “It has been a disappointing season overall. At the start of the season, we had Covid issues and it felt like we never got going.
“We’d get a couple of wins and then we’d be back to the start. It’s hard to put my finger on why it has gone the way it has.
“It was not the season we’d hoped for, but the main thing is we’re in the division next year and we will rebuild and go again.”
Success in Stirling secured City safety
Goals from Rory MacEwan and Matthew Cooper sealed Elgin’s 2-0 win at Stirling last week, which was the ideal response to their defeat by the same scoreline against Stenhousemuir.
And Dingwall felt their second half display was key as they stepped up the levels as they confirmed their place in the division.
He said: “We’ve had a good record against Stirling recently, so it was good to get another win.
“The first half was really a non-event, there was nothing in it. We were a lot better in the second half and got the two goals.
“It was a massive win for us because it means we were safe from relegation. We can put that out of our heads.
“We were a good number of points clear of Cowdenbeath and it would have been a disaster had we been caught by them.
“You never know until it’s mathematically over, so there is always a little bit of concern every time you go out and play.”
Six points keeps sixth spot in sight
Looking ahead to Saturday’s home clash with Cowdenbeath, Dingwall hopes the fans will turn out in force at Borough Briggs to push the team towards a second successive win before they round off at Stranraer next week.
He said: “Hopefully there will be a good number of fans there on Saturday for our last home game. I hope we can get three points and that would be a good end to the season for our home supporters, to go home happy.
“We are looking to try to finish as high as we can. We have two winnable games, against Cowdenbeath and Stranraer, who are sixth at the moment.
“Hopefully we can pick up six points from these last two games to see where we can finish.”
Well done to Midfielder Rory Macewan who earned himself a place in SPFL TOTW
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) April 20, 2022