Twelve months ago, it took Stranraer until their fourth league game of the season to pick up any points.
This season, the Blues have lost out to Clyde and Annan Athletic in the first two league fixtures.
Tuesday night represents a break from the league and instead a chance to pick up a win in the KDM Evolution Trophy against Alloa Athletic.
Jordan Stuart, who scored for Stranraer in the competition last season, is keen for his team to get up and running as soon as possible.
He said: “We do not want a repeat of last year and that is two games down already and we have not picked up a point, which is very frustrating.
“I have got full belief in what we are doing and it will come good.
“We have got too many good players for it not to come good.
“It is just tweaking the things that we can and then hopefully getting points on the board.
“We don’t want a repeat of the nine games or whatever it was last season.
“We cannot do that again.
“There are too many good teams in the league and they will just get further away from you.”
Stuart spoke immediately following the 1-0 defeat to Annan Athletic on Saturday.
The midfielder is expecting to miss the midweek clash at The Indodrill Stadium through injury but is hopeful he could be back soon afterwards.
He was forced off early in the second half and said: “It is a wee strain in my adductor muscle.
“Tuesday will be a miss but, hopefully, by Saturday I will be alright.
“It has been a frustrating start to the season for me and it must be frustrating for the gaffer.
“Hopefully, after this, I will get my head down and go again and get a consistent run of games.
“I am hoping to be in for Saturday.
“Hopefully, a bit of rest on Tuesday and hopefully get training on Thursday and be in for Saturday but I don’t know.”
The scores were level going into the final quarter of the League Two clash on Saturday.
However, a defensive mix-up allowed Annan forward Ally Roy to run through on goal.
Goalkeeper Max Currie managed to make a save but Roy was on hand to tuck home the rebound.
Stuart said: “It was very frustrating.
“I feel like we are not creating enough chances.
“We had a lot of control of the game but it is just that final bit, which is frustrating.
“We will go again on Tuesday and see if we can get something – at least.
“It was annoying not to get a win but we just go again.”
Last meeting
Lewis Gillie’s first Stranraer goal opened the scoring when the Blues visited Alloa just a few weeks ago.
The defender got on the end of a fine team move to break the deadlock. Luke Rankin levelled things early in the second half when he rounded Max Currie and slotted home, despite the efforts of Kenzi Nair.
Stranraer would lead the League One side for a second time when Aaron Quigg poked home from close range. However, Rankin would score a second equaliser to take the game to penalties, where Alloa would triumph.
Alloa Athletic: Stewart, O’Donnell, Taggart, Easdon, Foster, Marchant, Scougall (Pettifer 76), Cameron (Hetherington 46), McCafferty (Gallagher 46), Glasgow, Rankin.
Not used: Donnelly, Graham, Green, O’Connor, Walker and Bruin.
Stranraer: Currie, Coll (Ecrepont 70), Gillie, Nair, Dunne, Healy (Cleland 71), Bruce, Traynor (Stuart 65), Quigg, Hughes (Dolan 66), Dobbie (Binnie 80).
Not used: Lynch, McLuckie and Henderson.
Last five meetings
- Alloa Athletic 2 Stranraer 2 (Alloa Athletic win 4-3 on penalties) (Rankin x2; Gillie and Quigg) at The Indodrill Stadium on July 18, 2026
- Stranraer 2 Alloa Athletic 1 (Dolan and Turay; Clarke) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on August 12, 2025
- Alloa Athletic 0 Stranraer 1 (Neill) at The Indodrill Stadium on April 7, 2018
- Stranraer 1 Alloa Athletic 0 (Lyon) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on February 24, 2018
- Alloa Athletic 1 Stranraer 0 (Stewart) at The Indodrill Stadium on December 23, 2017
Last five games
Stranraer
- LOSS v Annan Athletic (H): 0-1
- LOSS v Clyde (A): 3-1 (Hughes)
- LOSS v Falkirk (A): 3-0
- LOSS v Edinburgh City (H): 0-2
- DRAW v Alloa Athletic (A): 2-2 (Alloa Athletic win 4-3 on penalties) (Gillie and Quigg)
Alloa Athletic
- LOSS v Hamilton Academical (A): 1-0
- DRAW v East Fife (H): 0-0
- LOSS v Ayr United (A): 4-1 (O’Donnell)
- DRAW v Falkirk (H): 1-1 (Falkirk win 5-4 on penalties) (Glasgow)
- DRAW v Stranraer (H): 2-2 (Alloa Athletic win 4-3 on penalties) (Rankin x2)
Last time out
Stranraer
Lineup v Annan Athletic: Currie, Ecrepont, Gillie, McLuckie, Dunne, Bruce, Stuart (Dolan 52), Healy (Traynor 80), Hughes (Cleland 71), Quigg, Dobbie.
Not used: Binnie, Cameron, Lynch, McManus, Nair and Henderson.
Alloa Athletic
Lineup v Hamilton Academical: Stewart, Taggart, O’Donnell, Devine, Foster, Hetherington, Marchant (Farquhar 72), Scougall, Glasgow, Rankin (Donnelly 77), Cameron (Walker 67).
Not used: McGrath, Gallagher, Ellison, Easdon, McCafferty, Buchanan and Green.
Transfers
Stranraer
Ins: Murray Binnie (St Johnstone), Zach Bruce (Hibernian, loan), Connor Cameron (Renfrew), Dean Cleland (Hibernian), Lewis Dobbie (East Kilbride), Lewis Gillie (Hibernian, loan), Aaron Healy (Arthurlie), Mark McLuckie (Bo’ness United), Kenzi Nair (Heart of Midlothian), Dominic Plank (Heart of Midlothian) and Archie Traynor (Kilmarnock, loan).
Outs: Ryan Edgar (Cumnock Juniors), Matthew Gillies (Heart of Midlothian, end of loan), Lewis Hunter (Caledonian Braves), Deryn Lang (Dumbarton), Joseph McGrath (Hibernian, end of loan), Kirk McKnight (Annan Athletic), Corey O’Donnell (Annan Athletic), Lewis Reid (Ross County), Tommy Sharp (Cumnock Juniors), Lyndon Tas (Heart of Midlothian, end of loan), Sallu Turay (Linlithgow Rose), Sean Docherty and Robbie Foster.
Alloa Athletic
Ins: Max Cameron (Rangers, loan), Josh Farquhar (St Mirren, loan), Kyle Glasgow (Rangers, loan), Lawton Green (Queen of the South), Joe Ellison (Berwick Rangers), Grant Marchant (Kilmarnock), Flynn McCafferty (Falkirk), Joseph McGrath (Hibernian, loan), Ross Stewart (Queen of the South) and Josh Walker (Elgin City).
Outs: Calum Adamson (Rangers, end of loan), Callum Burnside (Rangers, end of loan), Charlie Dewar (Dundee United, end of loan), Josh Gentles (Rangers, end of loan), Liam McFarlane (Heart of Midlothian, end of loan), David McKay (Spartans), Reece Mullen (Caledonian Braves), Kalvin Orsi (Hamilton Academical), Lewis Stewart (Rangers, end of loan), Daniel Church (retired), Connor Sammon (retired), Andy Clarke, Tochukwu Ogayi and Luke Watkins.
Five facts
- Fans need to cast their minds back to August 2016 for the last time a meeting between Stranraer and Alloa finished with more than a goal separating the two sides. Alloa were 5-2 winners in Wigtownshire on August 13, 2016. Craig Malcolm scored a double for Stranraer while Greig Spence and Jordan Kirkpatrick scored doubles for Alloa, alongside an Iain Flannigan goal.
- One man missing for Alloa is former Stranraer man Joseph McGrath, who is expected to represent Hibernian ‘B’ in the KDM Evolution Trophy. The defender spent the second half of last season on loan at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park. He made 15 appearances and found the net once, against Edinburgh City.
- Chris Aitken used three substitutes during the defeat to Annan Athletic on Saturday. That’s only the second time this year that he has used fewer than four substitutes. The other occasion was January 31 away to Stirling Albion when Ronan Hughes and Corey O’Donnell were called from the bench.
- Born on August 11, 1962, Martin McGowan played more than 100 games for Dumbarton and Albion Rovers during his career. Sandwiched in between was a spell at Stranraer in the 1986/87 season.
- Among those to have played for Stranraer and Alloa Athletic was Keith Knox. In fact, he found the net for the Wasps when Stranraer visited in March 2002. Alex Grace and Paul Kerr had Stranraer two goals up in nine minutes but the score finished level with Knox and Andy Seaton finding the net. The visiting team was: McGeown, Wingate, Wright, Jenkins, Grace (Glancy 84), Aitken, MacDonald, Shaw, Stirling, Harty, Kerr. Not used: Paterson, Gallagher, Trialist and O’Neil.
Admission
You can purchase an e-ticket for match entry via Alloa Athletic’s website.
The following pricing applies:
- Adult – £12
- Concession (66+, Disabled + Carer) – £8
- Under 16s – £5
Merchandise
Our brand new Argentina-inspired replica away shirts are available for purchase via the online Club Shop. You can order yours online now, along with a range of Blues merchandise.
Podcast
In the latest edition of club podcast Look Blues Talking we review the opening game of the season, look ahead to the midweek trip to Alloa and hear from club captain Beejay Coll.
Coverage
If you can’t make it to the Indodrill, you can follow our live matchday updates on X (formerly Twitter).
The manager’s post-match reaction will be available on YouTube following the game.
Club 1870 subscribers get a first look at the goals, along with full match footage.
Extended highlights will be available via YouTube on Wednesday afternoon, with Laurence Nelson and Brian Martin on commentary.
Photos: Bill McCandlish, Ian Irvine-Watson, Colin Poultney (Collarge Images), Alloa Athletic