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.

Peterhead: Competition for places has improved defensive performances

Peterhead defender Andy McDonald, left, in action against Alloa Athletic.
Peterhead defender Andy McDonald, left, in action against Alloa Athletic.

Peterhead defender Andy McDonald reckons competition for places has helped them look more solid at the back.

The Blue Toon have kept two clean sheets in their last three games and been able to finally string some results together.

It has coincided with the arrival of David Wilson, who has started the last three games after joining on a two-year deal. The defender had been out of football since leaving Elgin City in the summer.

Peterhead were also able to rely on two teenage full-backs against Falkirk, with loanees Flynn Duffy and Josh Mulligan coming to the fore.

“We’re looking a bit more solid at the moment and that’s down to the whole team,” said McDonald. “It’s what we need to be doing – if we get that right we can take it from there.

“I think the back three suits us at times and in certain games it works for us. It allows us to get on the ball a bit more and take control of the games.

“Defensively it can be more solid as well as it can go from a three to a five. There’s good competition there as well and it keeps everybody on their toes.

“We now know that there’s enough of us and if somebody isn’t playing well, they’ll be out of the team. Every team needs that healthy competition.”

Peterhead defender Andy McDonald (left) challenges Robbie Leitch of Cove Rangers.
Peterhead defender Andy McDonald (left) challenges Robbie Leitch of Cove Rangers.

Jim McInally’s side take on Montrose today, with Niah Payne (ankle) definitely out but Simon Ferry and Ryan Conroy potentially fit.

The Peterhead boss rates Montrose as the best part-time team outwith Arbroath and is baffled how manager Stewart Petrie has not been offered the chance to manage at a full-time club.

He said: “They’ve been brilliant. They’re easily the best part-time team outwith Arbroath over the last few years. You can nearly pick their team every week, bar two or three.

“One of the things I regretted was not getting Sean Dillon. No matter what age he is, he’s a great reader of the game, a great organiser.

“He’s been fantastic for them and we did our best to get him. But he went to Montrose and hasn’t looked back since.

“They’ve got a brilliant manager and how he’s still there is beyond belief for me. It sums up Scottish football really, the snobbery that goes about, that nobody has taken a punt on Stewart.

“He’s been top of the pile for years now and deserves an opportunity. He should still get it but for me, he should have had it before now.”

Peterhead manager Jim McInally.
Peterhead manager Jim McInally.

As much as the Peterhead boss respects his opposite number, the Balmoor outfit are starting to build momentum themselves.

McInally added: “We can’t go into it thinking we’re going to get overran as we’re in decent form ourselves.

“We’re going to be a young team again but it’s something I’m quite enjoying; you can see them progressing, whereas if you’ve got a team of pros who’ve been there and done it, they’re not really going to develop.

“It gives you different options having fresh legs in your team, it makes a big difference.”