Brechin City manager Jim Weir believes that if star striker Rory McAllister decides to move on in the summer it will be to England rather than the SPL.
McAllister, who was named SPFA second division player of the year, is out of contract at the end of the season and a number of clubs, including Aberdeen, have been linked with the prolific forward.
According to Weir, trying his luck across the border would be the former Inverness man’s preferred option should he decide to part company with the Glebe Park club.
Not that City have given up on McAllister staying.
Weir said, “Rory’s a special player. At times his discipline has let him down but he’s a goalscorer and we can’t hide from the fact that we missed him badly when he was suspended recently.
“I’ve always said that it’s far from cut and dried that Rory will leave. If he wants to finish his plumbing qualification then I’d like to think he’d stay.
“I know he’s happy here and isn’t desperate to go and he’ll only leave if it’s the right offer for him. We certainly can’t compete if there’s a bidding war with full-time clubs. There will be a lot of teams interested, and I already know a few of them.
“Having spoken to Rory I know he has ambitions to go down south, but it needs to be the right move. I think England would be more likely.”Play-offsMeanwhile, Weir will be hoping McAllister is at his best on Saturday when his team try to secure the point against Ayr United needed to take them into the play-offs.
He said, “This is a massive match. If you’d said at the start of the season we’d be in this position I might have taken it, but after the run we were on I was hoping we would have been safely in the play-offs by now.
“The good thing is, our destiny is still in our own hands, but this will be a difficult game because Ayr will want to finish second so they have a home tie for the second leg of the semi-final. I’m sure Brian Reid will put out his strongest side for that reason.”
Weir has called on the home support to play their part at the weekend.
He said, “If we can get the same sort of backing that we got for our cup ties against Dundee and St Johnstone it could make the difference. It certainly helped on those two occasions.”