Peterhead co-manager Jordon Brown is leaning on his previous play-off experiences to help steer the Blue Toon to promotion.
With three games remaining and a place in the play-offs already secured, Brown wants to get his squad in the best possible shape for securing promotion.
He has experienced the highs and lows of the play-offs during his career, having competed in them five times over spells with Peterhead, Cove Rangers and Forfar.
The Blue Toon are second with 55 points in League Two ahead of a trip to Elgin City – who can secure their place in the division with a win at Borough Briggs.
Brown said: “I have experienced both sides of the play-offs, but promotion is where you want to be.
“We refer back to 2016 when we were heavily involved at Peterhead – myself, Ryan Strachan, Rory McAllister and Scott Ross.
“We gave so much to that season – and had the cup final – to get our place in the play-offs (for promotion to the Championship from League One) confirmed with games to go, but we never really kicked on after that.
“We got suspensions and injuries, so we are looking at all of that this season and manage the squad the best we can.
“We want to give the boys the platform we can and be as fresh as we can for the play-offs.
“There will be boys who will be disappointed to not keep playing, but it’s the bigger picture we have to look at and making sure we have as many players available.
“Ryan has been there with Cove before when they play a lot of games in the build-up to the play-offs and it fell flat the year they got beat by Cowdenbeath.
“You need a bit of luck in these games, but it is all down to everyone being as prepared as we can.
“We can share our experiences and there is excitement with some of the younger ones who haven’t been involved in it before. It’s a great challenge for us and one we can’t wait for.”
Jordon Brown wants Peterhead to keep building momentum ahead of play-offs
Peterhead are expecting to be without the injured Rory McAllister and Joe McKee against Elgin, while striker Kieran Shanks is unavailable due to suspension.
Brown added: “We have to manage the squad.
“Everyone is playing their part and everyone has been involved. Boys are coming into the starting XI and we’re seeing the same style and clear structure of how we want to play.”
The Blue Toon travel to Elgin with an unbeaten run of six games and Brown hopes they can keep building momentum ahead of the play-offs.
But he is expecting a difficult game at Borough Briggs with Allan Hale’s side aiming to secure their place in League Two for next season.
Brown said: “It is going to be really tough.
“Putting aside the first time we played them this season (6-0 win to Peterhead), they have been competitive in the games we’ve played them since.
“They will be delighted with the response they have shown since their new manager came in.
“They have got a target to win the game to keep them in the league, which would be a great achievement from where they were. But we have got our own targets.
“Our target is second place and we are building good momentum. We’ve had one defeat in 13 and it has been a great response since January. We’ve had real consistency and we want to keep that up.”
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