Peterhead manager Jim McInally believes there is still more to come from David Wilson after his impressive start to life at Balmoor.
Centre-back Wilson joined the Blue Toon in September after four months without a club, following his departure from Elgin City over the summer.
He has since slotted seamlessly into McInally’s defence and been an important figure in their improved defensive record.
Wilson had been training with Peterhead for six weeks prior to signing and had dipped into his own pocket to help pay the compensation fee due to Elgin.
McInally said: “He’s done really well. He enjoys defending and reads the game really well. He uses the ball comfortably and doesn’t expose himself positionally.
“He’s doing everything he showed us in training, that he was a decent defender. If you look at the results since he’s come in – even the game at Queen’s Park where we lost, he came on and we improved markedly in the second half.
“Limitations is a big word in football and if you ask people to go beyond what they’re capable of, you’re in trouble. He’s not doing that and keeping things nice and simple – we’ll keep encouraging him to do that.”
Facilitating Wilson with his two other centre-halves Jason Brown and Andy McDonald has allowed McInally to switch to a back three at times, which has been effective.
He added: “It’s good if we have that flexibility. We’ve got incredibly fit boys that are doing it at wing-back – Josh Mulligan is a different beast when he’s moving forward and hard to stop. Flynn Duffy I would say is a better defender, but we need legs there.
“We’ll change accordingly; there’s no point changing shape if boys don’t know what they are doing. But they are a young team and the more information you give them, the more they take in.
“They are still up for learning and they’ve not got habits bedded in like older pros have got.”
Peterhead face Airdrieonians this afternoon. When the two sides met at Balmoor in August, the visitors came out on top 3-2, and McInally rates the Diamonds as the best team Peterhead have come up against this season.
He said: “They were depleted at the back and, although it was 3-2 that day, they could have been out of sight before we got back into it. We can definitely improve from that performance and hopefully we’re in a better place.
“They are coming off the back of a defeat and it’s important we go down there and defend well.”
Peterhead have been handed an injury boost with Niah Payne likely to be available for the Cove Rangers game next weekend. After rolling his ankle against Falkirk, it had been feared Payne had damaged ankle ligaments, but that has proven not to be the case.
Simon Ferry (hamstring) is a doubt for this weekend, while Jordon Brown, Alan Cook and Gary Fraser remain out. Ryan Conroy could play, despite a groin issue.