Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Blue Toon defender’s growing concern at looming threat of relegation

Ryan Strachan
Ryan Strachan

Peterhead defender Ryan Strachan fears relegation from League 1 is a growing threat after bottom of the table Stenhousemuir came out on top in the basement match at Balmoor on Saturday.

Oliver Shaw’s early deflected goal, in a scrappy match of very few chances, proved decisive as the Warriors reduced the Blue Toon’s gap to just two points.

The result has cranked the pressure up on the Blue Toon going into the remaining two matches, particularly given their dismal form.

Peterhead did defeat East Fife in Methil last week but that was their only victory in a dozen games and they have managed just three home wins all season.

Strachan said: “We have not been at the races this season. We have not been good enough. Not one player has come close to hitting the heights of last season.

“Confidence is a massive factor in football and we have got none.

“It is a worry because going into the last two games, we could be either relegated or hopefully get a bit of momentum going into the play-offs if we finish ninth. But we are stuttering. We are not getting what we need and it is a worry.”

Strachan added: “We won last week and thought we would get a bit of confidence from that, but it was not to be and basically it typified our season. There have been some highs but far too many lows.

“We have two games left now, but we are in trouble so the players need to stand up and be counted and show some character.”

On loan Hibs forward Shaw was the difference in this relegation struggle, although his pivotal 10th-minute goal did carry a strong element of good fortune.

From about 20 yards out, the teenager struck a shot, which took a big deflection off Craig Reid, wrong-footing goalkeeper Fraser Hobday as the ball spun into the net.

Shaw was lively and enthusiastic and while Peterhead did display plenty of effort as well, their lack of quality was the main reason why they could not get back into the game.

Chances were few and far between and although the Blue Toon threw more players forward in the second period, visiting goalkeeper Graham Bowman was rarely called on meaning Stenny saw out the game.