Brechin City boss Darren Dods has set his side a target of staying in the play-off zone as they prepare to host Peterhead today.
Defeat last weekend away to joint League One leaders Livingston was a setback but Dods, who has signed Dunfermline midfielder Lewis Spence on a month-long loan deal, has declared himself happy overall with the start City have made to the season.
They are currently third behind Alloa and Livi, just two points off the pace.
Even a fourth-placed finish would be enough to earn a shot at the play-offs and Dods believes that is a reasonable target to set his players.
“If we can keep ourselves in the top four then I will be pleased with that,” said Dods.
“We want to be involved in that conversation – that’s where we want to be.
“Of course, we want to finish as high as possible but we probably thought we would be mid-table by now, with a few wins on the board.
“Therefore, it’s been better than we expected.
“So I am optimistic that we can keep challenging near the top.
“We lost last week but that was to a Livingston team that I think will be strong for the remainder of the season.
“We had chances that we didn’t take –in particular when Ross Caldwell was one-on-one with the keeper – and we put pressure on them.
“So we are going into the Peterhead match with our confidence intact.
“They do have Rory McAllister, a striker that can score 20 to 25 goals a season, so we will have to keep an eye on him.
“However, overall I would say we have made a good start to the season and we now want to get back to winning ways.”
Dods has a full squad available – including Spence – with the exception of the injured Chris O’Neil, who had to come off after just 15 minutes of the Livi match.