Its back to league action for Dougie Samuel’s side after a weekend frozen out in the January frost. The Gaffer, who recently collected his MBE at Holyrood Palace for services to football and the community, leads his side into a crucial clash against Caledonian Braves, looking to build on an eight match unbeaten run.

One of the key architects behind just one defeat in the last fifteen outings is midfield playmaker Rhys Armstrong.   Armstrong, who made the move to Ainslie Park in the summer 2021 from Alliance Park has no time for sentimentality as he gets set to face his former club.

“I don’t think about the game as being up against a former team, it’s just another game of football where I’ll go out onto the park and do my best to get the three points.  Obviously I’m up for the challenge and the lads will be too as we look to get a vital win at home.

“It wasn’t ideal having no game last week especially with the momentum we are picking up at the moment however I guess it offered any of the lads with knocks an extra week to recover before a big game like Braves.”

As the business end of the Lowland League season starts to gather pace, Armstrong knows focus is key for him and his Spartans teammates.

“It’s a bit of a cliché but we need to into every game as if it’s our last and the three points is the most important thing.”

Last time out saw a manic ending to the match against Open Goal Broomhill including a dramatic late penalty save from Blair Carswell.  Armstrong is full of praise for the never say die attitude that runs through the squad.

“No matter who the opposition is, we will never give up and we’ll push for goals right up to the final whistle.  Everyone plays their part in looking at achieving this including those coming on off the bench who can make an impact with their fresh legs at crucial moments in the game.”

“We’ve had four great training sessions since the Broomhill game and the Gaffer keeps the confidence up throughout the changing room and ensures we keep our focus and don’t get ahead of ourselves too.”

ADMISSION INFORMATION

Today’s match kicks off at 3pm. Admission prices are £9 for adults and £6 for concessions. Season tickets are valid.

ACADEMY CAFÉ / BAR

The Café will be open to home and away supporters prior to kick-off and again following the match.

PREVIOUS MATCH

Caledonian Braves 2-4 Spartans – 29/10/22.

A blustery afternoon at Alliance Park saw the epitome of a game of two halves. Bradley Whyte got Spartans off to an ideal start with the head before the ball hit off his hip to outfox the Braves defence to double the lead.  Rhys Armstrong slide home before half time to put Spartans 0-3 up at the break.  Braves came out from the sheds all guns blazing and scored two in just five hair-raising minutes before Blair Henderson swooped to head home to secure the points late on.

MASCOTS

Today’s mascots have been supplied by the Spartans Youth 2015s Carswell side.

If ever the adage ‘hard work pays off’ required a flag carrier, Gavin Morrison would be at the front of the queue following his fight back from a lengthy spell on the treatment table.

The 33 year old midfielder brings a wealth of experience into the heart of the Spartans engine room and the former Inverness Caley player, who has also had a spell in Iceland, is looking forward to the next task in his flourishing career – the visit of Open Goal Broonhill to Ainslie Park.

Speaking ahead of the Park’s Motors Lowland League match of the day, Morrison said, “The boys have been doing great of late and I’m delighted that I’m back and able to contribute too.  It’s been a pretty frustrating period for me, trying to get myself fit and all I wanted to do was to get back playing and helping the boys on the pitch.

“We’ve been up against some good sides recently and we’re doing well, putting wins together which is what everyone wants.  The dressing room is in a good place and we’ve just got to keep on working hard and continue what we’ve been doing.

“It’s a great squad to be part of . You want to come and play football and work hard, so I’m just happy to be doing it.”

The league table is a congested one at the upper echelons of the roster. Morrison is keen to ensure his side maintain the momentum they have been building up in recent weeks and the summer signing from Cowdenbeath is looking for more of the same come 3pm Saturday afternoon.

Morrison added, “I think we’ve just got to focus on what we’ve been doing.  We’ve been playing well and working consistently as a unit.  We’ve been dominating large spells of games which is so important in this league you know you are coming up against good teams.

“It’s been a long time since the first game against Open Goal and we’re probably both different sides.  Consistency breeds confidence.  We’ve developed a strong defence since the start of the season and clean sheets have been crucial too.  You only have to look at Blair Carswell’s save late on last week to see just how important these parts of the jigsaw over ninety minutes are.

“It’s a great foundation for the rest of the team to go express themselves and play football so we’re very grateful to have them behind us.”

Kick-off is 3pm. Admission £9 Adults, £6 Concessions.

The Spartans head to East Kilbride on Saturday as the Lowland League hurtles itself into 2023.

Speaking ahead of the fixture, Spartans midfielder Kieran Watson noted that momentum was key in what has been a suite of tough games in recent weeks, continuing on Saturday.

“It was great to get the New Year off to a positive start with the win against Rangers but that’s parked now.  The main thing for us at the moment is to maintain momentum going into the following game.  That’s us now unbeaten in six league games although we’ve dropped some points along the way by picking up draws.”

With the competitiveness of the Lowland League and the congested top end of the business proceedings this year attracting attention from pundits and interested observers from afar, Watson insisted focus remained fully on what Spartans can impact on during 90 minutes and not being distracted by events elsewhere.

“We’re just looking after ourselves just now and not overly concerned by results elsewhere in the league to be honest.  We had a good training session again on Thursday and our attention now is fully on Saturday’s game.

“Obviously it’s a massive game, as they always are against East Kilbride – although every one of them is just now – and we’ll work hard to get the three points.”

Kick-off is 3pm at K-Park. Admission £8 Adults, Concessions £5.