Elgin City manager Jim Weir has urged his players to make sure of a starting place in next Saturday’s home Scottish Cup tie against Premiership outfit Caley Thistle with a strong performance against Annan Athletic today.
Elgin host Annan in an important League 2 match, with the third-placed Black and Whites six points ahead of Athletic, who are in fourth.
Elgin’s cup tie with Inverness is keenly anticipated but Weir says his players run the risk of missing out against Richie Foran’s men if they allow their focus to slip today.
He said: “This is an important game and the players know that. Their focus will just be on this game.
“I don’t think any of them will be going into the game looking to protect themselves for next week. They have to perform because everyone is playing for places.
“The players have got to earn the right to keep their place and it’s important they do that by getting a result this weekend.”
Elgin have lost both previous encounters with Annan this season, with a 2-0 home defeat last October followed by a 1-0 loss at Galabank the following month.
Weir wants his side to carry on the momentum from last week’s 3-0 win at Montrose, adding: “I said to the players after the disappointing 3-2 result at Arbroath last month that January was going to be big.
“We should have won against Forfar when they were down to 10 men but we won the next one against Montrose.
“We now have three home games, including the cup tie next weekend, but Annan will be a really difficult match.
“They have beaten us twice this season. They have re-signed Peter Weatherson, who is a massive player in this league. He is the type of player we would benefit from.
“We’ve got to be ready for that but we need to build on our recent performances.”
Weir this week extended the loan of Inverness goalkeeper Cammy Mackay until the end of the season, with Marc Waters providing competition after returning from Queen’s Park.
