Elgin City manager Gavin Price reckons League Two sides will have to bank at least 40 points in order to be sure of safety this season.
The Moray club, boosted by their fine 3-1 victory at Annan Athletic last week, are third in the table and determined to avoid a repeat of last term where they finished ninth, albeit eight points away from relegated Cowdenbeath in the end.
Forfar Athletic are the team currently 10th, but the recent appointment of Ray McKinnon as their new boss has already seen them draw with Bonnyrigg Rose and leaders Dumbarton.
Elgin have high hopes of being in the promotion mix, but stacking up points rather than looking at league positions matters most to Price at this time of the year.
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He said: “We need to make sure we keep the points ticking over. I think you’re going to need a lot of points to ensure you’re not going to be in last position in the league this season.
“You might need one point a game, up to around 40 points this time, just to be safe.
“You’d be then targeting 50-55 points to try and make the promotion play-offs.
“We’re not getting caught up on it too much at this point and we’re taking it one game at a time and keep that points tally stacking up.”
Ideal reaction followed defeat
Two weeks ago, Elgin were on the end of a 4-0 league loss against front-runners Dumbarton.
Price explained how it is vital for his team to show a positive reaction to any setback before it turns into a poor run of results.
He said: “The league is so tight, from our position in third right down to the bottom.
“It is important for us to keep bouncing back when we have a bad result, like we did last weekend at Annan.
“You have to try and react quickly as it’s important to avoid going on a bad run.
“If we can go on a strong run of mainly victories, like we did a few weeks ago, then it can make a huge difference to where you are in the league.
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— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) November 22, 2022
“At the minute, we’re not getting too caught up in where we are in the division. It’s nice to be sitting in third place, but given how tight it is we have to keep our consistency levels up.
“We need to get the points we need, first and foremost, to ensure we’re not struggling down the bottom end of the league. The next challenge will then be to ensure we’re competing for fourth place and above.”
Team-mates helping out Hester
This Saturday Elgin’s attention switches to the trip to Hill of Beath Hawthorn in the third-round of the Scottish Cup.
The Black and Whites visit their East of Scotland Premier Division opponents boosted by scoring three points at Annan.
Boss Price was delighted to see midfielder Brian Cameron hit a double, with Kane Hester surging up the scoring charts this season on 20 goals and Russell Dingwall on 10.
Seeing goals come from the boots of Hester’s team-mates is encouraging for Price.
He added: “The message to the players is not to be over-reliant on Kane Hester. We’re trying to get goals from different areas of the park.
“Russell Dingwall has been coming up with the goods in that respect. And we know from Brian Cameron, and the number of years he’s been at the club, how easily he can score goals as well.
“I just want to see him be a wee bit more positive in the final third, as he was on Saturday. That will be to his, and our, benefit.”
Elgin return to league business a week tomorrow when they host Stenhousemuir, who are just two places and two points below them.
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