Elgin City midfielder Rory MacEwan says the Black and Whites will not dwell on their first adversity of the season when they host League Two leaders Queen’s Park today.
City’s 100% start to the campaign ended after four games last weekend, when they went down 1-0 to Edinburgh City in blustery conditions at Ainslie Park.
Today’s opponents represent another difficult test, with the Spiders favourites for the title following a summer in which manager Ray MacKinnon recruited a number of former top-flight players.
MacEwan expects his side will quickly put last weekend’s disappointment behind them, and he said: “I personally wouldn’t look much into the result. The conditions were that bad, I found it really hard to do anything in that wind.
“On another day we could have been two or three goals up after five minutes. Going in 1-0 down at half-time meant we had to chase a goal going into the wind, which was always going to be a tough ask.
“We just didn’t get anything going but the boys are all still confident. It was hopefully just a minor blip.
“We just want to another game to get up and running again to how we were playing. In the first four games we were absolutely solid and not looked like losing any games. Hopefully we can turn it around and get back on a good run again.
SUPPORTERS BACK AT BOROUGH BRIGGS
Elgin City Football Club are pleased that the effort of the population of Moray & the Highlands in adhering to COVID19 restrictions means that we are now in the situation where we can start the process to allow fans back into our stadia.
1/2 pic.twitter.com/zxfwQqVOs0
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) November 4, 2020
“I don’t know many of the Queen’s Park players, but I know they have signed a lot of high calibre players over the summer and they have big aspirations.
“Their results haven’t been amazing so far, they drew with Stirling Albion and they took a late goal to beat Stranraer, both teams we beat comfortably.
“They are probably still gelling a little bit, as it’s basically a brand new team.”
Elgin have been given the green light from the Scottish government to host up to 300 supporters at Borough Briggs, however the notification has not arrived in time for the Moray club to accommodate fans at today’s game.
MacEwan says the return of supporters will come as a timely boost to his side, insisting Gavin Price’s men have attempted to generate their own home comforts in the absence of crowds.
The 22-year-old added: “If we have a good record at home that will always help us up the league no matter what we do away from home. It has been a bit different without the crowd, it’s been strange playing without anyone there.
“We are more used to the pitch we play on at home. A lot of teams come up and complain about the condition it’s in and the weather, but we are maybe slightly more used to it. We just hope we can use it to our advantage.”
Elgin conceded just their second goal of the campaign through Gabby McGill’s close range effort against the Citizens last weekend.
The only previous goal they conceded came as a consolation in a 4-1 victory over Stranraer.
Former Stirling University player MacEwan feels his side have built strong foundations, adding: “It takes the pressure off going forward, knowing we’ve got a solid backline and goalkeeper behind us.
“We have only conceded two so far, and they have both come from set-pieces as well. It was the second phase against Edinburgh City, but we haven’t really conceded from open play yet.
“That will help us a lot.”
