Jersey there to be kept
Friday, 2nd Jan 201502/01/15: The Peterhead match cannot come soon enough for John Potter and his team
There was great disappointment all round after last Saturday's match was postponed on the morning of the match due to a frozen pitch. The team had been picked and tactics worked on even though there was an indication on the Friday that the game might be off. John managed to take a positive from it all:-
"It has allowed another week working on the players and a few things that we want. Hopefully it will pay off for us this Saturday. We are hoping to get a result."
Every game is different and there will possibly be a different approach from that prepared for Brechin. John explained that some players might find themselves dropped from a starting eleven that never took the field:-
"When I got the job I was determined that the players who got into the team and did well would keep their place. I was a firm believer in that when I was a player, if I was in and did well I felt I deserved to keep the jersey. I will try and do that as much as I can here but games home and away for us are totally different.
"So we will maybe change it a bit. We have an idea of what we are going to go with and we have been working on that."
Mindful of losing their last three games Potter agreed that was just not good enough.
"We have to stay as relaxed as we can, this is the second half of the season just starting. We know that it is about results but we are confident that they will come. Once they start I think we can go on a good run. We can't get too excited about going and winning games by rushing straight away. We have to do things right in the way that we want to do it. If we do that then I am quite confident that we will get a result."
Reflecting on the two league encounters already played this season the gaffer recalled the 3-0 win at East End Park in September and the 1-1 draw at the Balmoor Stadium in November.
"The one down here was strange; I had never seen anything like it to be honest. We kept our composure, which was good, we kept our professionalism and never got involved in anything silly. We got the result.
"Up there for the first seventy minutes we played some of the best stuff that we have played. We were excellent, played really well and should have been further ahead but we didn't take our chances. They changed things a wee bit and got the ascendancy for the last ten to fifteen minutes and we lost a sloppy goal from our point of view.
"They have been eventful games but we have done our homework, we will be respectful to Peterhead. We think we know how they will play. We had them watched a couple of weeks ago and got the reports on them. It is up to us to go and play our game, do our things right and if we do that then I am confident that we will get a win."
Peterhead are just five points behind Dunfermline and they do have a game in hand. They will be looking at maximum points from that and Saturday's to take them above Dunfermline and into a play off place.
"The league is very tight at the moment, it is all about going on a run. I am not too worried about league position at the moment, obviously we all want to be top of the league or climbing the league and I am no different. We must concentrate on trying to win the next game of football at the moment; to win the next game, next game, next game and we are just looking forward to the one against Peterhead."
The management and players are hoping for a good New Year crowd at East End Park on Saturday.
"The fans have been brilliant all season even when performances have been a bit indifferent. We have had some good ones and some not so good ones. To be fair they have kept turning up and kept giving their support.
"I thought the atmosphere against Stranraer was great. They can see what what we are trying to do. They can see that the players are trying to give it everything that they have got. I have stressed that to the players - the fans will stay with you as long as they can see that you are trying your best, trying to do the right things.
"They turn up in their numbers every week and it is up to us to go and put a performance on that they are proud of and bring them back. We can get more fans coming in by winning games and playing good football.
Apart from Ryan Williamson, there is a full squad available for the return of Peterhead. Ryan Williamson has his brace off and progressing with his rehab. It is hoped that the 18 year old will be fit again by February. Ryan Wallace has trained all week, looked sharp and is in contention.
No new faces for Saturday but hopefully soon. John Potter revealed that Forfar full back Jim Paterson has now agreed to join Dunfermline but cannot be signed until early next week.
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