There will be no well-wishes from Willie Gibson to his former Peterhead team-mate Allan Smith as Edinburgh City come to town today.
Smith left the Blue Toon in the summer for City, who have started the season in fine form, but all the niceties will be left until after the final whistle.
City are within touching distance of Peterhead, sitting a point and two places behind them in the League 2 table. Victory over promotion contenders Clyde last weekend has certainly made the division sit up and take notice, with striker Blair Henderson level with Rory McAllister on four goals as the leading marksman in the fourth tier.
Smith has found the back of the net once so far for James McDonaugh’s side and will head north today with a point to prove. Gibson, while in fulsome praise of Smith’s ability, will hold off any pleasantries until after business has been taken care of.
Gibson said: “He maybe didn’t play all the time but it was to do with the competition – we had a good strike force and to be fair, when he played he did well. He maybe didn’t score as many goals as he would have liked.
“He’s opted to move on and I wish him all the best, as he’s a great lad. But I’m not too fond of friendships before the game – it’ll be a handshake and good luck. I’ll catch up with him after the game.”
Former Queen of the South, Dunfermline and Falkirk man Gibson sees Danny Handling as one of the signings of the season by the capital club. Handling, who left Hibernian last year, spent the 2017-18 campaign with Dumbarton before turning down a new deal in favour of signing for City.
The Blue Toon have also recruited well this summer but injuries to defenders Paddy Boyle and Mick Dunlop has required Gibson to drop back into right-back from his usual midfield role.
Gibson added: “I always believe in my ability and I can fill in anywhere. The manager said he was going to put me in and I was OK with that. I did a job and helped the team. Recent results have been good so there’s been no reason to change it.”