Peterhead captain Jason Brown has issued his rallying cry ahead of the Blue Toon’s penultimate League Two game this season.
The Balmoor side, who sit second in the league with 56 points, travel to Ainslie Park on Saturday to face fourth-placed Spartans, who have only two points fewer.
A win would help consolidate Peterhead‘s place in second ahead of a final day showdown with Dumbarton – who are currently in third but level on points with the Blue Toon.
To be fighting for promotion, Brown says, reflects how far his side have come since finishing rock bottom of League One last season when they picked up only 16 points.
He said: “The boys definitely won’t be lacking in motivation.
“All year we have spoken about how the end goal has always been promotion. The guys know what is needed of them and we all want to do it for each other.
“We have come such a long way as a new team, because there was a huge turnover in players.
“I think people forget where the club was actually at this time last year. We were probably one of the worst teams in Scotland, to be fair.
“The positivity around the club is down to all of us as individuals and as a team. We’ve managed to turn things around.
“The next few weeks will be about doing it for your team-mates. We’ve come this far and we’re looking to put icing on the cake with getting promoted.
“We know it is going to be tough, but we’ve had a good season – and credit has to go to the two managers, Jordon (Brown) and Ryan (Strachan), who have been a breath of fresh air.”
Peterhead captain says facing promotion rivals is good preparation for play-offs
Facing their promotion rivals in their final two matches of the regular league campaign, Brown hopes, will stand Peterhead in good stead for the play-offs.
If the Blue Toon secure second place, they will face whoever finishes third in League Two in the semi-final – with home advantage in the second leg.
Brown said: “We know that we have got two tough games to finish the campaign and we want to do that by finishing it well for the play-offs.
“We know that these next two games are against teams who we could face again in a couple of weeks, so it is massively important to do well against them and maybe plant the seed in their heads now.
“We have already played each other three times, but it will give us a fresh look at each other.
“We’re looking forward to going down to Spartans on Saturday. They are a tough team and it is tough venue, but the mood in the camp is really good.”
Peterhead travel to Edinburgh having lost only one of their last 14 games, with nine of those matches ending in draws.
Brown said: “It is a great run, but, of course, we would have liked to have won some more of the games.
“But we have to take the positives because it is a really positive run we have been on – it has been one defeat in 14 games and we have picked up some really valuable points.
“We have had a lot of injuries over the season. It’s not an excuse, but we’ve not always been able to have the same players playing.
“We’re starting to get injured players back and we’re getting stronger. If we can get a settled starting XI, and with the boys making an impact from the bench, then we can kick on.
“There is a good vibe at the club and the boys are going to give it everything to get us over the line.”
Conversation