Elgin City defender Mark Nicolson fears time is running out for his side to revive its League 2 title challenge, following Saturday’s 2-0 loss against Berwick Rangers.
Third-placed City failed to capitalise on teams above them dropping points, with leaders East Fife held to a 1-1 draw by Queen’s Park, and Clyde, in second, defeated 2-1 by Arbroath. The Black and Whites are now four points adrift of the summit, and Nicolson knows his side must rally in the weeks ahead to pile the pressure on its title rivals, with Saturday’s home fixture against Annan Athletic the first of five games remaining.
Nicolson said: “It’s very disappointing.
“It was a game we probably needed to win, but we’ve fallen further behind those teams at the top of the league.
“There are still five games to go and 15 points to play for, so we need to pick ourselves up and go again next week.
“Hopefully we can start a winning run, because we just weren’t good enough against Berwick.
“We came looking for the win, but when other teams didn’t pick up points it was disappointing.
“But it gives us another chance. We’re four points behind the top of the league, and with Annan also picking up a win it makes things a lot tighter.
“We’ve definitely got the quality in the team.
“If we start playing like we did in the first half of the season, and even into December and January, we’re more than capable of getting something from this season.
“But we’re running out of time now, so that’s got to start next week as we are also running out of matches.”
Saturday’s result continued City’s struggles on the road, with Jim Weir’s side winning just four of its 16 away league games this season.
Nicolson is at a loss to explain the contrast with his side’s excellent home form, where Elgin have lost just one league game at Borough Briggs, and the 27-year-old added: “It’s been very frustrating. There was a stage where we went on a run and won three away games in a row, but for some reason it just doesn’t click away from home for us.
“It’s something we need to look at and try to work towards. There are only two away games left now so hopefully we can pick something up from them.”
