Joel MacBeath reckons the fierce competition for attacking places will ensure Elgin City do not struggle for goals this season.
City are the highest scorers in League Two with 14 goals from their opening five games, and they will aim to add to their tally when they host Annan Athletic today.
Striker Kane Hester is the division’s top marksman, bringing his league tally to six with a hat-trick in last weekend’s 5-2 victory over Cowdenbeath. Hester also netted a further strike in a Betfred Cup win over Stirling Albion.
With Aiden Sopel and Conor O’Keefe also on target in recent weeks, attacker MacBeath feels Elgin’s front men are helping to get the best out of each other.
MacBeath joined hometown club Elgin in the summer after leaving Ross County, where he had been throughout his entire youth career.
Although he has only started once so far, the 19-year-old is determined to play his part.
He said: “There are a lot of players who are in form at the moment. We can have players coming in and out of the team and all still do the same job.
“It’s quite a settled squad now and I think we are working well together. If we want to do something this season it’s not just the first 11 – the manager keeps preaching that.
“People on the bench are part of the team, they need to come on and make an impact. We are all united as a team.
“We got five goals against Cowdenbeath, with Kane getting a hat-trick. That gives him so much confidence going into the next game. Aiden has come on to a great game, he has worked hard.
“It’s good the way we are playing just now, and we are excited to keep the games coming.”
Elgin go into today’s game in second place, four points behind leaders Queen’s Park.
MacBeath is hopeful his side can keep up the challenge to the Spiders, and he added: “The vibe around the club is really good. We have got ourselves into a good position.
“We had aims to try and be up there before Christmas, and we want to be there at the end of Christmas.
“We are taking it game-by-game, but the confidence is high. We just need to try and get through the run of games in December and see where we’re at.
Elgin City boss Gavin Price credits youngster Aiden Sopel with lockdown transformation
“I expect Annan to be a strong team, and to be physical with us. They will want to come up and try and get a result, but we obviously fancy ourselves.
“We have just got to do what we’ve been doing in the last few weeks, and I’m sure we will come out with a good result in the end.”
TOMORROW ⚽️
Ahead of tomorrow’s match this is just to remind you all S/T holders that live in a Tier 1 area can attend.
Keiran will be in touch later today. Please ensure you have completed the Questionnaire or you may not be granted access.
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— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) December 4, 2020
Elgin will host 220 supporters at Borough Briggs for the second successive home match, with the club having successfully staged their first crowd of the season at last weekend’s victory over Cowdenbeath.
MacBeath felt the atmosphere helped to lift the players and he is determined to give the supporters more reason to cheer this afternoon.
He added: “We could feel the vibe before kick-off. There were people coming into the ground, it got us a bit more up for the game.
“It was good to have the fans and we put on a good display for them – I think they appreciated that. Hopefully we can keep doing that because it has been hard for them having to watch it online.
“Now are getting to come in and watch it in person and it’s great to see. It’s no good not having fans at the end of the day.”
