Elgin City manager Gavin Price says the return of crowds has brought Borough Briggs back to life for his players and staff ahead of their League Two meeting with Annan Athletic.
City hosted a crowd of 220 fans for the first time this season in last weekend’s 5-2 win over Cowdenbeath, with the same number permitted for tomorrow’s home game against Annan Athletic.
Although still short of the figures Elgin would typically attract for home matches, Price says the presence of supporters was warmly embraced by the Black and Whites, and they are looking forward to it again with the Annan clash approaching.
He said: “It was great to have supporters back at the ground. I wasn’t sure how it would be, but it was definitely a positive.
“I’m not sure if it’s an advantage, but it certainly doesn’t do us any harm.
“For me personally, and for the players, it was nice they applauded us before the game to show their appreciation.
“I think that’s important – it has just created a wee bit of a bond between the supporters, the club and the players.
“The players have realised how important it is to these supporters to be in the ground.
“Whether or not it has an effect on the pitch I don’t know, but it certainly creates a little bit of atmosphere for the players. I felt that on Saturday.”
City’s strong early season form has catapulted them to second in the League Two table, with four points separating them from leaders Queen’s Park.
Their opponents Annan are seventh, having lost 4-0 at the hands of Edinburgh City last weekend.
Price says Peter Murphy’s much-changed squad represents a somewhat unknown quantity, however, he feels confident in Elgin’s ability to impose their strengths on the Galabank outfit.
Price added: “In the first third of the season you see that a lot of the squads chop and change, and Annan have done as well.
“There are a few faces in their team we know about. We know they are always a tricky team to break down and we have come unstuck against them before.
“The last couple of times we have managed to beat them convincingly though.
“We have just got to approach the game by concentrating on ourselves.
“We said to the players when we played Cowdenbeath that we can watch games from other teams and highlight certain things.
“Fundamentally it’s where we are on a Saturday, and how we perform.
“I’m convinced if we do it the right way we can win the game.”
