Arbroath boss Paul Sheerin hopes the return of striker Steven Doris will prove to be the tonic his side needs at the moment.
The 25-year-old rejoined his former club on loan last night after failing to establish himself in the first team at Dundee, and will be focused on helping the Red Lichties climb the League One table until the end of January at least.
It is a timely move for the Angus club following the loss of forward Steven Milne to a new career with Police Scotland and then on-loan Motherwell hitman Lee Erwin, who is out for the rest of the season following knee surgery.
Pending the necessary clearance, Doris should be available for the visit of in-form Stranraer this afternoon and Sheerin is delighted to have the prodigal son back in the fold.
“It will give us a huge boost to have him back,” he told Courier Sport.
“When you lose people like Erwin and Milne through injury, it’s a massive blow because they are good players and have a big presence.
“So we needed someone in and Doris knows the club, did well for us when he was here and hopefully this will suit both parties.
“The fans know him as well and know what we’re getting, so he should be a great addition.
“He’s clearly struggled up at Dundee and he’s certainly not done as well as I thought he would, but hopefully he’ll come to us, get a run of games and get his confidence back and then go back to Dundee a better player.”
Arbroath are hovering just above the league drop zone and will hope to take three points at Stranraer’s expense today to ease the situation, although Sheerin’s side are without a league triumph in almost two months.
“We need to start winning games, it’s as simple as that,” the player/manager admitted.
“Stranraer have gone the last six or seven games unbeaten and that’s excellent, certainly in our division, so they’ll be full of confidence.
“We haven’t been on the best of runs, so we need to turn things around as soon as possible.”
Defender Ricky Little and midfielder Connor Birse remain long-term injury absentees.