Russell Dingwall has provided lethal firepower for Elgin City this season – but admits he was one of many who were off the pace against Forfar Athletic.
Saturday’s 1-0 home loss against the Loons ended the Black and Whites’ impressive run of just one defeat in 12 outings and they dipped to fifth spot in League 2.
Forfar, who moved from bottom place to eighth as a result, achieved the win thanks to an early goal from Ben Armour, who was sent off for an alleged clash with an assistant referee late in the first half.
Despite the defeat, Elgin’s recent sparkling surge up the table means they are only one point behind fourth-placed Stenhousemuir and just seven points away from front-runners Stirling Albion and Dumbarton.
While striker Kane Hester has been the main man for Elgin this term with 15 goals, attacking midfielder Dingwall has chipped in with seven.
Three testing matches within a week, which included a 3-2 win at Stranraer and a 1-0 home success against Albion Rovers, were seen as reasons for an off-day, according to manager Gavin Price.
Too many ‘passengers’ led to defeat
Dingwall agreed with that assessment and felt he and several team-mates need to raise their levels when they take on East of Scotland League First Division side Camelon Juniors in the Scottish Cup second round on Saturday.
He said: “It probably showed after having the long trip to Stranraer then the Albion Rovers game in midweek. The sharpness wasn’t there on Saturday.
“Personally, I was miles off it and a few other boys in the team put their hands up to that.
“We’re not a team that can carry passengers, so when there are four or five boys not at it then it’ll be problem.
“Forfar scored early and sat in and it was hard for us to break them down.
“But we’re one point away from the play-offs and we’ll get a break from the league this weekend.
“We will reset with the Scottish Cup game where we will look to reach the next round and then come back to the league with two tough away games (against East Fife and Bonnyrigg Rose).
“We know if we can get our form back and firing, we’ll give anyone in this league a game.”
FT – Elgin City 0-1 Forfar Athletic. After conceding early on, Elgin couldn't find a equaliser. It wasn't our day. pic.twitter.com/J3UKZMr78V
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) October 15, 2022
Depth in squad welcome for Price
Despite the weekend’s setback, Dingwall feels Price has got plenty of options within his player pool to cover for any absentees.
He added: “We have other boys who can come and fill in when players are out. For example, we were without Brian Cameron last Tuesday, but Angus Mailer came in and we won 1-0.
“We’re solid and we’ve got a couple of options for each position, so that’s handy for us going forward.”
And with seven goals to his name, Dingwall is determined to add to that tally this weekend at Borough Briggs.
He added: “It’s been a good start to the season for me. I’ve been on the scoresheet a few times.
“I can hopefully keep doing that playing a bit higher up. I’ve scored seven and I’d have taken that at the start of the season.
“Hopefully I can back to it in the cup and see where we go from there.”
City squad will do homework for tie
Price has personally watched Camelon, who are 14th in their division, and Dingwall insists Elgin must be switched on from the first whistle to avoid a slip-up.
He said: “We’ll no doubt be looking at videos of Camelon this week. We won’t take them lightly as we know these teams can be strong, so we’ll go into the game with the right attitude and hopefully get the win.”
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