Cove Rangers boss Paul Hartley admits it has been a testing season but remains certain he can keep the club in the Championship.
The Balmoral Stadium outfit are in the midst of a worrying run of form, having won only once in their last 13 games – which was against Partick Thistle who they host today.
Hartley’s side sit ninth in the Championship, a point clear of Hamilton Accies who have two games in hand.
Their struggles at the bottom of the table are a stark contrast from Cove’s recent seasons where Hartley guided them to the League Two and League One titles in the space of three years.
He admits this has been a difficult campaign for him, having been dismissed by English League Two side Hartlepool after nine games before returning to Cove in January.
Hartley said: “It’s been a testing year for me, there’s no getting away from that. The previous three years were terrific – you’re winning every week and enjoying it.
“It’s been a different challenge from the last three years. It’s been a different challenge coaching, which you’ve got to embrace.
“In management – every manager that I look at throughout the country, whether that’s the top league or the bottom – you’re going to have to go through a spell at some point in your managerial career.
“When everything is going great, it’s brilliant. Everyone gives you the praise and when it’s not going so great, you have to accept the criticism.
“You have to still think you’re a good coach and manager that got success previously.
“This year has been different from the start, having a break and then coming back in midway through the season to change a lot of things at the club.
“It’s been difficult but I still remain upbeat and positive about myself.”
Staying up would allow positive rebuild, says Hartley
The Cove boss says staying in the second tier was the club’s main goal following promotion from League One, and Hartley intends to deliver that over their remaining six games.
Hartley said: “When the club came into the Championship, it was to stay in it and I still firmly believe we can do it.
“I still believe there’s a lot to play for between now and the end of the season. I know it’s only six games but I’ve seen the Championship turn on its head with a couple of results.
“If we can manage to stay up then it’s a real positive for the club to really focus and rebuild.”
Since their last win over Thistle in February, Cove have scored just three goals in seven games, which Hartley knows must change if they are to be in with a chance to survive the drop.
He said: “We need to find a result from somewhere. It’s not easy to put your finger on it, but we have been making mistakes.
“We’ve actually been starting games pretty well but once we’ve lost a goal you can see a bit of confidence go from the team, so it’s just trying to build that confidence in training to say ‘okay, we need to make sure we stay in games for longer’.
“We’ve not scored enough goals. The last two games we’ve created chances but we seem to flash so many balls across the face of the box. When you’re a forward, they just arrive a bit too late or gamble that it’s going in.
“I’ve seen teams who have been on a bad run just find something and we need to find one result that can change.
“It’s getting to the critical stage of the season. There are six games left and not much room for error, it’s what we have to do now – we can’t rely on what other teams are doing.”
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