Red-hot forward Kane Hester reckons Elgin City must turn the heat on their League 2 rivals by showing they can build up a winning run.
Hester’s goal in the impressive 2-0 home victory against Bonnyrigg Rose recently took his tally to seven goals in just 12 outings so far.
The 27-year-old, who last month signed a two-year contract at the Borough Briggs club, is urging his team-mates to deliver another big performance by winning at Stenhousemuir on Saturday.
All games were off last weekend as a mark of respect following the death of the Queen.
And Elgin will be keen to deliver a second swift victory over Stenny, having defeated them 3-1 in the SPFL Trust Trophy in August, which was a tie Hester opened the scoring in.
Elgin’s victory over Bonnyrigg – their first league triumph of the campaign – saw them push up to sixth position, just three points shy of their weekend hosts.
While the Moray team will be lifted by that result, they face a Warriors outfit which has posted back-to-back wins over Forfar Athletic and Stranraer.
Taking strong cup form into League 2
Speaking about the importance of earning their first league win to add to SPFL Trust Trophy success against Dundee United colts and Stenny, Hester said: “It was massive for us. In League 2, it is all about momentum.
“As soon as you get that first league win, you really need to kick on from there and that’s hopefully what we will do.
“The performances have certainly been there this season and we’ve taken the lead in nearly all our league games.
“We were conceding some silly goals and maybe not seeing out games and that was costing us. We’d been getting results in the cup and we’ve now got the win in the league and it is now a case of us carrying that on in League 2.
“In this league, if you can get two or three wins in a row then you can shoot right up the table. Hopefully, we can get that second win and take it from there.”
Hester expects Stenny to improve
While Hester is confident of getting a result this weekend, he also expects their opponents to raise the levels after losing out last time.
He said: “We obviously played well to beat Stenhousemuir in the cup, but if anything that will make them more hyped up for Saturday.
“They know how we play and they know they will have to up their game after we showed how well we can do against them.
“We need to put in the same level of performance. I’d expect a better performance from Stenhousemuir.”
Hitting net is main goal for Hester
With Hester just three goals away from double figures, he’s thrilled to have hit the ground running once more this term.
Since signing for Elgin in January 2019, he’s found the net 62 times and is showing no signs of stopping.
He added: “I’m delighted with the start on a personal level. At the start of every season, all I’m ever looking to do is play well and score goal, like any striker would be looking to do.”
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) September 14, 2022
After the weekend, Elgin will switch their focus back to the SPFL Trust Trophy, with a third-round trip to League 1 side Peterhead next Saturday.
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