Brechin City have reached the do or die stage of their season, manager Darren Dods has admitted.
Tonight’s local derby with Forfar at Glebe Park is their chance, possibly their last chance, “to give the fans some hope” that they can escape relegation to League Two.
“If we lose this game we’ll be 10 points behind Forfar and they’ll have a game in hand,” Dods said.
“Cowdenbeath would be 10 points clear as well.
“It’s got to that point where we need to win to claw back some points. We have to start getting a run together.
“It doesn’t come any bigger than a game like this. A win would give our fans some hope.
“We’re at home and we all have to pull together for tomorrow night.
“If we can win this game then we pull to within four points. We have Forfar to face on the final game of the season and we need to keep things alive between now and then. We cannot leave it to anyone else now to save us. We have to start doing it ourselves.”
Lewis Spence will miss out, while Liam Watt and Andy Jackson are doubts.
Meanwhile, Forfar boss Gary Bollan is hoping to continue the momentum built up by back to back league wins.
He said: “This was always going to be a game where local pride is at stake. There is a bit more than normal up for grabs as we have opened up a small gap and are keen to extend that.
“Things are moving in the right direction for us at the moment as improved performances are now bringing wins.
“We had got ourselves into a hole and now we are working our way out of it. The recruitment of Steven Craig and Andy Ryan has paid dividends so far as their goals have been a huge boost and long may that continue.”
Michael Dunlop is a doubt for the Loons with both Michael Travis and Iain Campbell ruled out.