Arbroath shot stopper Derek Gaston believes his side will have to fight for every point if they are going to win the Championship – because EVERY team in the league has something at stake.
A hard-fought draw on Saturday at Queen of the South kept the Lichties top of the division.
However, they are only there on goal difference, with Kilmarnock drawing level on points after brushing Raith Rovers aside 3-0.
While Dick Campbell’s side have to keep ahead of their rivals at the top end of the table, Gaston knows the teams in the bottom half will put up as much of a scrap for their own reasons.
‘Every team fighting’
In all, every team in the league either has the chance to reach the Premiership play-offs or is looking to avoid the dreaded drop.
“The further the season goes on, we’re playing against teams that need to fight,” Gaston explained. “It’s so tight at the bottom of the league.
“It’s not like we’re playing a team that’s marooned in the middle of the league with nothing to play for.
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“Sometimes when you get towards the end of the season, you could get teams in sixth place but don’t have much chance of catching teams in fourth and they’re pretty safe from relegation.
“This season it’s going to go right to the wire.
“Every single team has got something to fight for.
“We know we’re going to have to battle to win it.
“Look at Morton’s results in recent weeks, they’ve picked up.
“They lost on Saturday but they’ll be raring to go next weekend.”
‘Important point’
Some may have seen the Lichties’ goalless draw against bottom side Queen of the South as two points dropped.
But for Gaston, it’s another point added to the board, which could prove vital come the end of the campaign.
“At the end of the season, we might look back on Saturday and think that point got us to first, second or third place – wherever,” the 36-year-old said.
A stunning save by @dgaston_1 had the Queen of the South supporters with their heads on their hands as Gats tipped Shea Gordon's curling shot onto the bar.
Another clean sheet for the Arbroath defence who didn't give up all afternoon. pic.twitter.com/ahOaMYkyIo
— Arbroath FC (@ArbroathFC) February 19, 2022
“We didn’t play that great against Queens – but then if you don’t play well, it’s important to not lose the game and that’s what we did.
“It’s a cliche but there are no easy games in this league, away from home especially. If you can come away from home it’s a point gained.
“These are the kind of games you do look back on when we didn’t play that well but ground out a vital point. That sums up Saturday.”
