Peterhead captain Simon Ferry is confident his club can avoid a relegation struggle in League 1 this season.
The Blue Toon were dragged closer to the bottom of the division when they lost 2-0 to fellow-strugglers Stenhousemuir at Balmoor Stadium on Boxing Day.
Manager Jim McInally believes a loss of confidence is the main factor in his club’s struggle near the bottom of the division, but has backed his players to bounce back in 2017. It is a sentiment shared by 28-year-old former Celtic midfielder Ferry.
He said: “I know we can turn things around and climb the league.
“We’re not where we are in the league because of a lack of effort.
“Everyone is putting in the work to try to fix this, but we don’t seem to be getting any breaks in games.
“The Stenny game was a great example.
“They never looked like scoring but an own-goal and a rebound from a free kick gave them two goals.
“A little bit of luck is all we need to get back to winning ways and we’re due some.”
Ferry, whose side faces Brechin City at Glebe Park today, believes the promotion play-offs can still be achieved and insists his side is capable of going on a winning run in the second half of the season.
He said: “People maybe look to me as captain, but it’s down to all the players and they don’t need me to motivate them for games.
“They’re experienced players and have been part of successful, winning teams here in the past and they will be again.
“This is a good club to be at, they look after us well and it’s time we took some responsibility for our place in the league table and did something about us to get us moving in the right direction.
“We have been better away from home, compared to our results at Balmoor, and hopefully we can use that to get a win at Brechin.
“There is so little between the teams in this division and results depend on who turns up on the day or which team makes the fewest mistakes.
“We’ve had a tough run, but there is still a lot to play for and we believe we can push up the table.”
