Stirling Albion complete their Premier Sports Group A campaign tomorrow (Saturday) when they face Peterhead at Forthbank.
The Binos went down 5-0 to an impressive Aberdeen side on Tuesday evening, with all the goals coming in the first half for Jim Goodwin’s men.
A home win over Peterhead this weekend would take Stirling on to the eight-point mark, which will likely be enough to secure second spot as Raith Rovers finish away to Aberdeen.
That would be a fine achievement – particularly as Albion also finished second last season – but it likely wouldn’t be enough to secure a last-16 place as one of the three best runners-up.
Young will have central defender Jordan McGregor available again after a one-match ban for the meeting with a Peterhead side who have yet to find the net in Group A.
Blue Toon boss Jim McInally has also been short of numbers due to injuries in the group stage and will be without some players because of suspension for the Forthbank trip.
The teams met on the same weekend 12 months ago, with Stirling winning 3-1 thanks to goals from McGregor, Martin McNiff and Jack Leitch.
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Former Aberdeen midfielder Young admits the gulf in class showed in midweek but hopes his players can finish with a flourish against Peterhead.
He said: “In the first half it felt like every chance they had, they took. We had one cleared off the line at 1-0 and that would have given us a boost if it had gone in but to be honest their movement and pace killed us. We won’t come up against that in League 2 this season, that’s for sure.
“It showed the gulf in class but two or three of their goals came about with us giving the ball away and you get punished. We tried to be harder to beat in the second half and we managed to do that. It’s a learning curve playing against this level of opposition.
“We have a chance to finish second in the group against Peterhead and we might make a few changes to get guys some minutes. We want to get the three points and see where that takes us. We’re looking forward to it – I know Peterhead are short of bodies but they will have a strong starting 11.
“Jack Leitch is just back from his honeymoon so it was good to have him back and young Greg Harrower, who has just turned 17, came on for his debut having done well in training.”
