There should be no problem for Jim Weir getting his players focused or motivated for the rest of September, with three Angus derbies in a row coming up.
And the Station Park boss knows that if his team come through the season with a good record against their local rivals, it will probably have been a good one.
Forfar travel to Gayfield to play Arbroath this afternoon, with Brechin City and Montrose to follow.
“The derbies will have a massive impact on our season,” Weir admitted. “The fact that there are 12 of them speaks for itself.
“These are games that the fans look forward to and it’s the same for the players.
“It was good to beat Montrose in the Betfred Cup and hopefully that’s the first of a few good derby results this season.”
Forfar lost all four matches against Arbroath last season.
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“In two of those games we played well and didn’t deserve to lose,” Weir recalled.
“Arbroath have added to their squad since then and are strong.”
Matty Aitken is available again but Michael Travis is out, with Andy Munro a doubt due to illness.
A fortnight ago Forfar were well beaten by Raith Rovers and Weir said: “Hopefully we have got that one out of our system.
“After having four clean sheets we didn’t defend well that day.
“I’ve not been able to pick a settled team yet, or my strongest team, and hopefully now we’re starting to get boys back available.”
