Cowdenbeath v Stirling Albion preview

Stirling Albion return to Ladbrokes League 2 business on Saturday when we travel to Central Park to play bottom club Cowdenbeath.

We head for Fife on the back of a 5-3 loss to Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale in the Scottish Cup but with a four-point advantage at the top of the table as the first quarter of the campaign comes to an end. We haven’t played in the league since the 2-2 home draw with Elgin on September 30.

Team news: On-loan Hearts winger Callumn Morrison is set to return after missing last week and Willie Robertson trained on Tuesday. Binos boss Dave Mackay will also make a decision on defender Lee Hamilton, who had a back problem last weekend. Striker Andy Little remains out.

Dave Mackay: “Last Saturday was unacceptable but we can’t let the Scottish Cup result fester and affect us going forward. We need to get back on track against Cowdenbeath but like every game in this league it won’t be easy. They might be bottom but they have conceded fewer goals than we have.”

Previous meetings: Home advantage didn’t count for much in this fixture last season. We won 2-0 at Central Park in October and came out on top by the same score in March when Ross Smith and Sean Dickson got the goals in a game that almost fell victim to a waterlogged pitch. Cowden ruined our New Year with a 2-1 success at Forthbank on Hogmanay and turned us over 3-0 in April.

Opponents: Like ourselves, Cowdenbeath suffered a Scottish Cup exit last week, going down 1-0 to East Kilbride. Billy Brown’s side have scored just one goal in their last six league games – a last-minute penalty in a 1-1 draw with Clyde. However, they have only conceded more than a single goal in one league game – the 4-0 reverse to Peterhead.

Referee: John McKendrick

Admission: £12 for adults, £6 for concessions

Twitter: Updates will be available @Stirling_Albion

Our next game: Stirling Albion v Stenhousemuir – 28/10/17