It’s home sweet home for Stirling Albion this weekend – but Darren Young insists his side have no reason to get too comfortable against Stenhousemuir.
The traditional New Year derby fixture comes as sweet relief for an Albion squad and fanbase which have travelled to Inverness, Stranraer and Elgin in their last three games – with their last planned home fixture against Forfar falling victim to the weather.
The latest trek up to Moray on Christmas Eve left some members of the Binos squad with travel sickness, but they battled that and training disruption to claim a hard-fought three points to stay in the League Two promotion fight.
Albion boss Young said: “It wasn’t the best to be up at Elgin at Christmas, although we were delighted to get the game on.
“There was a bit of chopping and changing with training facilities, which is a bit of upheaval, but the boys understood it at this time of year.
“We actually had four players and the kit man sick on the bus with the journey but the performance on the night was brilliant. We limited them to very little in terms of chances and took our own.
“We worked in training on being a bit harder to beat defensively and it was just great to get the three points, especially with the manner and way we performed.”
The visitors head to Forthbank with no league win since the beginning of October – a record which saw boss Stephen Swift lose his job, with defender Sean Crighton set to take interim charge of the side.
“The Stenny boys will be motivated because they may be playing for places and I don’t doubt there might be two or three managers in the stand or whether Sean has the chance for it himself but we will do what we do and focus on ourselves,” said Young.
He also confirmed the club are looking to extend the loan of Dundee United youngster Kai Fotheringham, who has become a key part of Albion’s success this term.
His deal expires on January 3 and the Binos gaffer is hoping fans at Forthbank will be able to enjoy his talents for a while longer.
He added: “He has a terrific attitude and work rate and the skill and quality on the ball is there for all to see.
“He came along to the Albion charity event with his mum and girlfriend, he didn’t need to do that as a loan player but he’s bought into everything here and hopefully he can have a little more time with us.”
Albion host Stenhousemir at Forthbank tomorrow with a 3pm kick-off.
