Elgin City attacker Kerr Hay feels competition for places is getting the best out of the Black and Whites’ squad.
Hay came off the bench to net his third goal of the season which secured a late 3-2 triumph against Stirling Albion last weekend, with the Moray outfit making the trip to Berwick Rangers today.
Elgin manager Gavin Price added Kane Hester and Scott Roberts in January, while Greg Morrison has continued to feature after extending his loan spell from Ross County until the end of the season.
Hay feels he is reaping the benefits of the intense competition for an attacking berth, and he said: “I think the run is coming from the new boys coming in. We have started winning games because everybody needs to be at the top of their game.
“I’m not saying the boys were not trying before, but it gives you that extra boost when you know after one or two games you could be out, instead of maybe three or four games when there’s not as much competition.
“Fair play to the boys for keeping me and other strikers like Chris McLeish out of the team. It’s only a healthy thing in football to have good competition for places.
“I never even came on against Albion Rovers, and I only had a couple of minutes in the games before that.
“It’s a massive personal boost to get that goal. There’s nothing better in football than scoring a goal when you are an attacking player.
“It does massive amounts for me. I’m not saying it’s going to make me start the next game because there’s massive competition, the boys have been doing well. Hopefully if I can get on I can keep scoring.”
Hay’s goal proved vital, with sixth-placed Elgin now just two points behind the Binos and six adrift of fourth-placed Annan Athletic, with a game in hand on both teams.
The 23-year-old is determined to maintain the recent improvement in form, adding: “The three points were needed. We’ve had two wins on the bounce which has put us right back in contention for the play-off places.
“It’s good timing, after such a bad run of poor results. To come back from being behind twice against Stirling was a massive win.
“Now we’ve got a game in hand over them which is massive. We’re looking for another win against Berwick to keep the run going and build on the momentum we’ve already got.”
City were defeated 4-2 by ninth-placed Berwick at Borough Briggs in November but triumphed 3-0 on their last visit to Shielfield in September, and Hay added: “We need to go into every game looking at needing to win it. There are certain games where we would take the draw, but games against Berwick are ones we really to go into thinking we need to win.
“They will be looking at it the same though. They are not in the best of positions, so it will be a battle and it will be tough.”
