Michael McKenna insists Arbroath can pull off a dramatic ‘Great Escape’ and beat relegation to League One.
As things stand in the Championship, the Red Lichties are on the brink of the drop, rooted to the foot of the table.
Jim McIntyre’s men are eight points adrift of Inverness, albeit having played a game less.
With just nine matches remaining, McKenna knows Arbroath simply have to put a run of victories together – starting today at Airdrie – otherwise the Angus part-timers will be playing in the third tier next season.
The experienced midfielder admitted: “We’re at the stage of the season when you can’t beat about the bush.
“We are running out of games and the teams just above us are picking up points every week.
“Queen’s Park got a point against Partick last Saturday, Inverness got a point against Airdrie.
“They will continue to pick up points so we need six wins from nine games.
“We need to try to stand up and get back to what we can do as quickly as possible.”
The 33-year-old insisted relegation is not a certainty, saying: “I personally believe we can still do it.
“If you look at the fixtures we’ve got, the home fixtures are definitely winnable games.
“If we beat the teams round about us, we have a chance. It’s going to come down to the home games.
“We have to find a way to win as soon as possible and if that means winning ugly with 1-0 victories, then so be it.”
Arbroath have been ravaged by injuries throughout the campaign with McKenna just one of the key players who have been side-lined.
He added: “We have had a lot of hard times this season with injuries.
“People are back now but we’ve hardly trained.
“I’ve only trained once or twice in 14 weeks. Tam O’Brien has not trained at all as he’s had a broken hand.
“The manager has shown he wants to try to get us into the team because we’re getting desperate.”
Arbroath were thumped 4-0 by league leaders Dundee United last week but McKenna believes the relegation-haunted Lichties can bounce back on Saturday against the Diamonds.
He said: “Airdrie are a good side but we beat them 4-0 at home and we’ve still to play them at home again.
“After Airdrie, we have three home games you’d look on paper as winnable.”
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