Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Cove Rangers: Paul Hartley keeping feet on ground in League One run-in

Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley
Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley.

Paul Hartley’s feet remain firmly on the ground as Cove Rangers look to maintain their hold on the League One summit.

With eight games to go, Cove hold a five-point lead at the top ahead of facing Clyde at the Balmoral Stadium today.

Their nearest-challengers are Airdrieonians, who they play in a fortnight’s time, but Hartley will not get pre-occupied with what might happen further down the line.

He said: “We’re in a nice position but it’s fine margins. We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing – I’ll never get carried away and predict anything.

“I’ve been in this position enough times as a player and manager. We’ll take it a game at a time and we have confidence in the squad, to keep getting results.

Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley
Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley

“I can’t look three games ahead, or to the Airdrie game in three weeks’ time. This is the next important game.

“They’ve done well against the teams at the top. They’re a hard team to play against; we’ve found it out, Falkirk have found it out, Airdrie and Queen’s Park too.

“We can’t take anything for granted. We’ve got to keep doing the good things we’ve been doing for most of the season.”

Harry Milne took a lot of plaudits for his performance in the 5-2 win over Peterhead last weekend but Hartley admits he does not like singling out individuals for praise.

They have a good number of key contributors but also unsung heroes like Blair Yule and Connor Scully, who have been accomplished in several roles across the pitch this season.

Hartley said: “They’re all doing well. I don’t like singling people out that much. They know if they want to stay in the team, they’ve got to perform to the highest level.

“The players who are versatile, they adapt and do their job. The two (Scully and Yule) can fit in anywhere without any moans or groans.

“They go in and say ‘right, I’m a good team player today’. It might not be their best position or their favourite position, but they know they can go in and get on with their business.”

Connor Scully in action for Cove Rangers
Connor Scully in action for Cove Rangers

Cove are without Ryan Strachan for the game as he continues to struggle with an Achilles problem. Shay Logan returns to the squad after more than a month out with a hamstring injury.

It means Hartley has virtually a full-strength squad to choose from for the run-in.

He added: “We were caught a bit short last year. We didn’t have enough depth in the group and had quite a lot of young players we’d take on loan.

“This year we feel we’ve got that steeliness about us, with experienced guys who’ve been over the course before and know what it takes.

“I’m confident in the group that we’ve got and how they work. I don’t think you can ever get too comfortable.

“I trust the players and we trust each other. No matter what team we pick, whoever comes in knows what they have to do to get a result.”