Montrose boss George Shields believes his players are ready to make amends for the last time they were in action when they play Berwick tonight.
Two weekends ago, the Gable Endies slumped to a desperately disappointing 4-0 loss to East Stirlingshire.
With no Scottish Cup tie on Saturday, Shields worked his players hard in training and afterwards let them know in no uncertain terms that he is expecting a reaction at Links Park this evening to end a sequence of nine games without a win.
He said: “We have not had much luck with injuries and the guys who have come in have let us down.
“However, I do not like to make excuses and we have been working the players hard in training since the 4-0 loss to East Stirlingshire.
“I spoke to them all after Saturday’s session and they know what I expect from them against Berwick.
“I am certain I will get a reaction from them.
“They are the same group of players who won the first four games of the season and all it needs is a little bit of luck to get back to winning ways.
“I think we have maybe been lacking a wee bit of confidence so a victory would be a big boost.”
Shields had hoped to have Leszek Nowosielski available for tonight’s game however the 22-year-old’s international clearance still hasn’t come through nearly three weeks after he signed a deal with Montrose.
The manager added: “There seems to be something happening with the Polish FA and we still do not have Leszek’s clearance papers.
“It is incredibly frustrating as I believe he can be a good player for us.
“He has started training full-time with Aberdeen but we have him on a contract until the end of January.
“Hopefully, he will be available for the weekend game at East Fife.”
Montrose will also be without the injured Alan Campbell, Craig Bell, Adam Harwood and Danny Cavanagh.