Lewis Reid has encouraged Stranraer to forget about Scottish Cup disappointment and concentrate on climbing League Two.
The Blues’ Road to Hampden was brought to a halt by Broxburn Athletic in extra time last time out.
Now, the club is determined to put that in the rear view mirror and concentrate on league form.
Saturday’s postponement of the scheduled clash with Forfar Athletic delayed that slightly, with Chris Aitken’s squad now looking at a trip to the Ainslie Park home of Spartans on Tuesday.
Reid, one of five players on loan at Stranraer, is among those aiming to cast cup disappointment aside quickly.
He said: “We will put the Broxburn result behind us straight away.
“We will have a talk about it in training but once that is done you close the book and get on with it.
“We look for a big reaction and to get a good win.
“We want to make it hard so that every team that comes down to Stair Park dreads coming here.
“Right now, that’s not what is happening and so we will have to have a look at ourselves and make this place a hard place to come.”
The defender was not in the matchday squad for the Scottish Cup exit.
Speaking after the full-time whistle, he said he had “a slight, wee infection” and he was taking it day by day in a bid to get back to action.
He said: “I’ve not really been given a timeframe.
“It just depends on how my body feels so I just need to wait and see.
“I’ll try to get a training session on Tuesday or Thursday and see what happens.”
Reid’s absence from the squad was the first game he has missed since joining the Blues on loan from Queen’s Park.
The 20-year-old, who has featured twice this campaign for the Spiders, stressed he would much rather be playing than sitting in the stand.
He said: “I hated every minute of it!
“You just want to get out and play.
“There is nothing worse than being injured and since I’ve come into the club I have played 90 minutes every week.
“That’s what I want to be doing.
“I don’t want to be sitting up in the stand, I want to be helping the team and getting us away from the bottom of the table.”
Last meeting
A two-goal home lead was surrendered on the opening day of the league season as Stranraer and Spartans settled for a point apiece.
The opening goal of the league season came in bizarre circumstances when Deryn Lang’s effort looped up off a sliding Spartans defender and left Blair Carswell with no chance.
The advantage was doubled when Lang turned provider for Elliot Dunlop, who scored from inside the box.
Robbie Foster would strike the crossbar and Ayrton Sonkur denied Lang but it would all change after the break.
Paul Watson nodded home from close range just a few minutes after the restart. That clearly gave the visitors hope and Watson was on target for a second time to make it 2-2.
Stranraer: Pazikas, Cummins, Ross, McKnight, Brindley, Dunlop, Russell, Ecrepont, McIntosh, Foster (Edgar 69), Lang (Grant 79).
Not used: Robertson, McQueen, Hawkshaw, Hughes, Adam and Broun.
Spartans: Carswell, K Watson, Booth, Sonkur, P Watson, Dishington (Walls 69), Hunter, Craigen, Whyte, Henderson, Russell.
Not used: Inglis, Denholm, Wylie, Lamont, Scott and Meek.
Last five meetings
- Stranraer 2 Spartans 2 (Lang and Dunlop; P Watson x2) at Stair Park on August 3, 2024
- Spartans 0 Stranraer 0 at Ainslie Park on April 13, 2024
- Stranraer 1 Spartans 2 (Orr; Sonkur x2) at Stair Park on February 17, 2024
- Spartans 3 Stranraer 0 (Denholm, Sonkur and Own goal) at Ainslie Park on December 23, 2023
- Stranraer 3 Spartans 4 (Orr, Dolan and Lang; Craigen, Armstrong, Tapping and Henderson) at Stair Park on October 7, 2023
Last five games
Stranraer
- LOSS v Broxburn Athletic (H): 1-2 (Dunlop)
- LOSS v Bonnyrigg Rose (H): 1-2 (Robertson)
- WIN v East Fife (A): 1-2 (Guthrie and Grant)
- LOSS v Elgin City (A): 1-0
- WIN v Threave Rovers (A): 2-3 (Edgar x2 and Lang)
Spartans
- WIN v Stirling Albion (H): 3-0 (Henderson and Russell x2)
- WIN v Forfar Athletic (A): 0-3 (Russell, Walls and Henderson (Pen))
- LOSS v Peterhead (A): 2-1 (Whyte)
- LOSS v Cowdenbeath (H): 1-2 (Walls)
- LOSS v Elgin City (H): 1-3 (Henderson (Pen))
Last time out
Stranraer
Lineup v Broxburn Athletic: Pazikas, Cummins, Robertson, Ross, Ecrepont (Edgar 63), Russell, Hawkshaw (Dunlop 62), Gallagher, Grant, Lang (McKnight 89), Guthrie (Brindley 63).
Not used: Adam, McQueen and Gibson.
Spartans
Lineup v Stirling Albion: Carswell, K Watson, Booth, Sonkur, P Watson, Scott (Dishington 66), Walls (Hunter 66), Craigen (Waugh 86), Whyte, Henderson (Stowe 75), Russell.
Not used: Whittaker, Denholm, Wylie and Meek.
Five facts
1. Stranraer have won seven of their last 10 midweek league games. That has seen victories over Queen’s Park, Edinburgh City, Cowdenbeath, Dumbarton and Albion Rovers.
2. Monday marked the 44th birthday of former Stranraer player/assistant manager Lee Mair. He made 10 appearances for the Blues during 2015/16 having previously played for clubs including Dundee, Dundee United and Stockport County. His Stranraer debut came at Easter Road when the Blues lost 1-0 to Hibs. The visiting line-up that day was: Brennan, Robertson, Pettigrew, Bell, Mair, Rumsby, Cairney (Longworth 71), Thomson (Aitken 67), Malcolm (McGill 78), Stirling, McGuigan. Not used: Rowan, Keenan, McCloskey and Currie.
3. Stranraer have not lost their first match in December since 2019. A 3-0 defeat at Peterhead has been followed by a 2-2 draw against Stirling Albion (Tom Orr and Darryl Duffy), a 4-1 win at Stenhousemuir (Scott Robertson, Anton Brady, Ayrton Sonkur and Tom Muir), a 3-1 win over Stirling Albion (Dylan Forrest, Sean McIntosh and Grant Gallagher), and a 1-1 draw at Forfar Athletic (Olly McDonald).
4. Ryan Edgar scored a double at Threave Rovers in the Scottish Cup but the last Stranraer player to score a league double away from home was James Hilton. That came in a 3-1 win at Stenhousemuir, with Craig Ross also finding the net, in April 2022.
5. Spartans full-back Callum Booth was born in Stranraer and has never been on the losing side against his hometown club. He played against the Blues for Partick Thistle in 2017 when Christie Elliott scored the only goal of the game. Since then, he has lined up three times for Spartans and came away with a win and two draws.
Admission
Admission at Ainslie Park is priced as follows:
- Adult – £17.00
- Concession (16 to 18 and 65+) – £12.00
- Youth (13 to 15) – £5.00
Supporters can either purchase tickets online or pay at the gate.
Coverage
We’ll have live matchday updates on X (formerly Twitter) for those not heading to Edinburgh, and Spartans are offering a live stream of Tuesday night’s game priced at £4.99.
The manager’s interview will be available on YouTube later in the evening, and you can catch extended highlights with Laurence and Brian on Wednesday afternoon.
Club 1870 subscribers can watch the goals by Wednesday morning, along with full match footage later on Wednesday evening.
Photos: Bill McCandlish, Ian Irvine-Watson, MadMacPhotography
