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Jim McInally confident Peterhead can maintain their League One status

Jim McInally
Jim McInally

Peterhead manager Jim McInally believes they have what it takes to stay in League One.

The Blue Toon face league leaders Falkirk tonight at Balmoor in the first of their five remaining games.

McInally’s men are sitting seventh in the table, nine points clear of bottom side Forfar Athletic, but only three points above Clyde in ninth, who occupy the relegation play-off spot.

He said: “It’s about points rather than performances. Stats and losing runs and whatever else don’t matter.

“It’s about staying up and that’s all it’s about and we need to make sure we do that.

“I watch the players in training and in games and I see what they can do.

“I believe in the players and I can’t really say any more than that.

“We’ve got a young team. Josh Rae is 20, Daniel Strachan 18, Kieran Freeman, 21, Andrew McDonald 22, Jason Brown is only 25.

Jim McInally has belief in players like Kieran Freeman

“I’m not daft, I know it could go totally belly up but we haven’t got any alternatives so you just get on with it and go and play.

“We’ve got players in midfield in Simon Ferry, Scott Brown, Andrew McCarthy and Hamish Ritchie that would play in any team in the league.

“Steven Boyd’s a good player, we’re just a bit short up front, but there’s no point dwelling on it because there’s nothing we can do about it.

“Derek Lyle started and was excellent for an hour on Saturday.”

The need for goals

On Saturday Peterhead lost 2-1 to East Fife at Bayview, although McInally was encouraged by elements of their performance.

A lack of goals continues to be a problem for the Buchan outfit, who have only netted 14 times in their 17 league fixtures.

McInally added: “We need to try to get a second goal if we score a first goal, that’s been our biggest failing.

“We could have had two penalties on Saturday. But with five games to go there’s no point in dwelling on what you need to do or what you need to improve on.

“You just need to get results and that’s the bottom line.”

Putting pressure on Falkirk

The pressure on Peterhead is to retain their League One status, while tonight’s opponents are under pressure to win the league.

Falkirk’s loss to Cove Rangers on Saturday means they now lead the division on goal difference and McInally is hoping to put them under more pressure.

He said: “Falkirk are under enormous pressure, we’re under pressure ourselves, but I know Falkirk are under pressure and there is a desperation there to get up.

“We just need to try to use that to our advantage if we can.

“Our problem on Saturday wasn’t general play, it was too many corners and free-kicks conceded and that was where our goalkeeper made all his saves.

Andrew McDonald, left, is suspended for Peterhead after being sent off against East Fife

“We know Falkirk are quite imposing at set pieces with players like Conor Sammon and Mark Durnan.

“Andrew McDonald is suspended as well but there’s no point in moaning about him missing, we just need to deal with it.

“They’ll all be allocated a man to pick up and we’ll try to deal with the threat of these players as best we can.

“If we play as we can and like we did in the first half hour on Saturday then we’ll give them a game.”