Elgin City goalkeeper Thomas McHale reckons the Black and Whites can make a statement of intent by toppling League 2 leaders Cove Rangers today.
City have recorded back-to-back victories over Stirling Albion and Cove Rangers to move into fourth place ahead of today’s visit of Paul Hartley’s men to Borough Briggs.
Although Cove have triumphed 2-0 over Elgin on both occasions the sides have met this season, McHale is eager to show his side can be a match for any side in the division.
Englishman McHale said: “No matter what league you are playing in, you always want to beat those at the top.
“We just want to go out and prove a point that we can mix it with the big boys.
“Numerous times this season we have shown what we are capable of, it’s just unfortunate we’ve not done it enough in the league.
“We are now at a point where we’re in the play-off spot, we know we need to keep that.”
City are only two points clear of both Stirling and Queen’s Park, and four ahead of Annan Athletic who are also vying for a play-off spot.
McHale knows his side must maintain their consistency in the coming weeks, adding: “We are going into a hard run of games. It’s so tight in the middle of the league. We are going to be playing against a lot of teams that are based around us.
“We are ready for the second half of the season now. It’s almost like a new start for us.
“We are in a good position in the league, on the back of two wins, but we need to start picking up more points at home.”
Elgin manager Gavin Price insists his side have nothing to fear against the Aberdeen outfit, and he said: “The two games have been quite frustrating. I think we have taken a wee while to get going in them both.
“I would probably say Cove have edged both games, but I do mean just edged. There has not been a lot in it in terms of possession during the game.
“I think we’ve got to go out with a bit of self-belief, and we need to keep winning games to make sure we keep in that top-four position.
“We can’t see this as a free game – we’ve got to try and get points from it.”
Price takes encouragement from his side’s last two victories, which the Moray outfit have won by a solitary goal.
Price, who hopes to have defender Ewan Spark back among his squad following a knee injury, added: “I think we will need to win more of these games if we are going to try and keep in the position we are in.
“It was good to get a couple of late goals to win in that manner, and reverse the trend of our season in losing them.
“I think we deserved the victory from how we played. We dominated much of the game, but it just took us a long time to get there.”
