Elgin City defender Craig Beattie is determined to atone for his lowest point of the season when the Black and Whites take on Stirling Albion in League 2 today.
Beattie was part of a City side that was defeated 3-0 by the Binos at Borough Briggs in September, bringing Gavin Price’s men back down to earth after a fine start to the campaign which saw them take seven points from a possible nine.
Former Scotland international Beattie felt his side went down too easily on the day and he is eager to show a response when his side travels to Forthbank, where City triumphed 4-0 against Stirling University in the Scottish Cup last weekend.
Beattie said: “The way Stirling beat us up at Elgin still doesn’t sit right with me. There were too many of us, myself included, off the ball that day.
“To get beaten 3-0 on our home pitch is not acceptable.
“It was probably the low of the season so far for me. I felt that day it was very easy for Stirling, and it should never be that way.
“The responsibility is with us and the way football works, you always get another opportunity.
“This is our opportunity to right the wrong that happened at Elgin. We want to put on a performance and take something away from the match.”
Stirling have won just two of the nine matches they have played since their win over Elgin, leaving Kevin Rutkiewicz’s men ninth in the table.
Former Binos player Beattie is taking little note of recent form, with the 34-year-old adding: “You talk about form in the lead up to matches, but once the whistle actually blows it’s down to the players on the pitch.
“You saw that recently with Queen’s Park beating Peterhead, while Edinburgh City are top of the league and we beat them at our place.
“Form goes out the window once the match starts, which is maybe a good thing because ours hasn’t been particularly great, we have been a bit inconsistent.”
Beattie hopes last weekend’s cup victory, which set up a fourth round tie away to Premiership side Hibernian, can be a timely boost for the Moray side, who lost their previous two league matches at home to Berwick Rangers and Clyde.
Beattie added: “Last week might have been a welcome little break from the league. We’ve won our game in the cup to go through to the next round and we’ve got a cracking tie.
“There are a lot of positives to take from last week. The performance could have been better in spells – no question. But we got back on track, so hopefully we can kick on.”
