Recalled Kirk McKnight is hoping that a first 90 minutes since early April could help him secure a place in Saturday’s starting line-up.
The midfielder was brought back into the team for the midweek victory over Motherwell B.
McKnight played a role in the opening goal on Tuesday night and will be one of the players hoping to have caught the eye of manager Chris Aitken ahead of the trip to Dumbarton.
The 21-year-old, who last played 90 minutes against Spartans last season, said: “It was good to get a win, obviously.
“We have not had that in the league yet and we are still looking to get that ticked off.
“The performance was good and we have got confidence going into Saturday.”
Healthy competition in midfield means that Aitken has plenty of options to choose from as his team look for their first three points in the league.
A victory could pull them level with Annan Athletic at the bottom of the table, although everyone at Stair Park knows that the journey to Stevie Farrell’s Dumbarton side will be a tough one.
McKnight, who is no stranger to the Dumbarton Football Stadium having made a handful of appearances during a brief loan spell from Kilmarnock, is hoping his showing in the KDM Evolution Trophy will see him involved again.
He said: “The manager just says ‘now you’ve got the jersey, it is your time to show what you have got and see if you deserve to keep the jersey for Saturday’.
“It is just up to us to perform for him.
“I thought I did not bad – I think it was the first 90 minutes of the season for me.
“Happy to get that done!”
Tuesday night’s victory means Stranraer’s record against the B teams this season is six points out of six, with seven goals scored and just one conceded.
And while fans might have their own opinions on whether the B teams should be in the competition, McKnight is a fan.
He was part of a Kilmarnock side that included the likes of Rugby Park regular David Watson; Bobby Wales, who is now at Swansea City; ex-Stranraer loanee Innes Cameron; and Stair Park team-mate Aaron Quigg.
McKnight said: “I don’t mind it, to be fair.
“It gives people, like myself, who are on the bench just now, a good run out and it is a good learning curve for them also.
“It gets us minutes in the legs if we don’t get them on Saturdays.
“I played in it with Kilmarnock and we did not bad, actually.
“We beat East Stirlingshire and I captained them.”
Last meeting
Although there were no goals the last time Stranraer faced Dumbarton, there were plenty of chances.
Deryn Lang stung the palms of visiting goalkeeper Jay Hogarth at Stair Park before Matty Grant lobbed both the goalkeeper and the bar after a fine long ball by Murray Miller.
Kalvin Orsi was the main threat for the visitors and he teed up Tony Wallace on a handful of occasions.
Sean McIntosh and Ben Armour came close either side of the half time break while Carlo Pignatiello almost scored with a header.
In the end, both teams had to settle for a point.
Stranraer: Budinauckas, Williamson (Ecrepont 78), Ross, McQueen, McIntosh, Gallagher, Hawkshaw, Miller (Fleming 78), Grant (Gilmartin 78), Armour (Orr 56), Lang (Dolan 68).
Not used: Edgar and Downie.
Dumbarton: Hogarth, Lynas, Durnan, Pignatiello, Newbury (Blair 74), Crighton, Lennon, Orsi (Healy 78), Wallace (Graham 64), Hilton (Wilson 74), Ruth (Kelly 64).
Not used: Malcolm, Vata, Gray and O’Neil.
Last five meetings
- Stranraer 0 Dumbarton 0 at Stair Park on April 20, 2024
- Stranraer 5 Dumbarton 0 (Own goal, Grant, Forrest, Armour and Lang) at Stair Park on March 5, 2024
- Dumbarton 2 Stranraer 1 (Ruth and Wallace; Ross) at Dumbarton Football Stadium on February 24, 2024
- Dumbarton 3 Stranraer 1 (T Wallace, R Wallace and Ruth; Armour) at Dumbarton Football Stadium on September 30, 2023
- Dumbarton 1 Stranraer 1 (Lynch; Own goal) at Dumbarton Football Stadium on May 6, 2023
Last five games
Stranraer
- WIN v Motherwell B (H): 3-0 (Lang, McManus and Turay)
- DRAW v Elgin City (H): 1-1 (Russell (Pen))
- LOSS v Spartans (H): 0-2
- LOSS v Kelty Hearts (A): 3-0
- LOSS v Stirling Albion (A): 1-0
Dumbarton
- DRAW v Kelty Hearts (H): 3-3 (Honeyman, Own goal and Wallace)
- DRAW v East Kilbride (A): 1-1 (Tomlinson)
- WIN v Forfar Athletic (A): 2-3 (Honeyman and McIntosh x2)
- DRAW v East Fife (A): 1-1 (Honeyman)
- LOSS v Edinburgh City (H): 1-2 (Own goal)
Last time out
Stranraer
Lineup v Motherwell B: Henderson, F Ecrepont, Reid (Coll 61), Rough, Docherty (Stuart 72), McKnight, McManus (Dolan 61), Sharp, Hunter (Russell 61), Turay, Lang (O’Donnell 72).
Not used: Dunne, Quigg, Edgar and Lane.
Dumbarton
Lineup v Kelty Hearts: O Ecrepont, Lynas, Clark, Durnan (Neill 46), Walker, Blair, Wallace, M McArthur (Tomlinson 71), Honeyman (Docherty 60), Johnston, Roy (McIntosh 60).
Not used: Webster, Livingstone, Gilfedder, S McArthur and Kelly.
Ins and outs
Stranraer
Ins: Beejay Coll (St Cadoc’s), James Dolan (Unattached), Evan Dunne (Beith Juniors), Matthew Gillies (Heart of Midlothian, loan), Ewan Henderson (Whitletts Victoria), Ronan Hughes (St Cadoc’s), Lewis Hunter (The Spartans), Josh Lane (Hamilton Academicals, loan), Daniel McManus (St Cadoc’s), Corey O’Donnell (Stenhousemuir), Dom Plank (Heart of Midlothian, loan), Lewis Reid (Queen’s Park, loan made permanent), Scot Rough (Beith Juniors), Tommy Sharp (Livingston), Jordan Stuart (Beith Juniors) and Sallu Turay (Partick Thistle).
Outs: Tomas Brindley (Cumnock Juniors), Adam Cummins (Irvine Meadow), Grant Gallagher (Cumnock Juniors), Matty Grant (Johnstone Burgh), Dean Hawkshaw (Hurlford United), Craig Ross (Airdrieonians), Max Guthrie (Ayr United, end of loan), Sam Kane (Queen’s Park, end of loan), Josh Lane (Hamilton Academical, end of loan) and Scott Robertson (retired).
Dumbarton
Ins: Dom Docherty (Clyde), Ollie Ecrepont (Ayr United, loan), Thomas Falconer (St Mirren, loan), Scott Honeyman (Falkirk), Chris Johnston (Unattached), Shay Kelly (St Mirren, loan made permanent), Kai Kirkpatrick (Kelty Hearts, loan), Adam Livingstone (East Kilbride), Theo McCormick (St Mirren, loan), Carrick McEvoy (St Mirren, loan), Leighton McIntosh (Al Ahli), Morgyn Neill (Alloa Athletic), Ally Roy (Stirling Albion), Scott Tomlinson (Ayr United), Gordon Walker (East Fife) and Kristian Webster (Rangers, loan made permanent).
Outs: Finlay Gray (Stenhousemuir), James Hilton (Clyde), Craig McGuffie (Peterhead), Joel Mumbongo (Annan Athletic), Mouhamed Niang (East Kilbride), Kalvin Orsi (Alloa Athletic), Carlo Pignatiello (Queen’s Park), Michael Ruth (Queen’s Park), Matthew Shiels (Queen’s Park), Milosz Silwinski (Queen’s Park, end of loan), Michael Miller, Paddy O’Neil, Zak Queen, David Wilson and Greig Young.
Five facts
- Mark Russell made his 50th appearance in a Stranraer shirt during the midweek victory over Motherwell B. His appearance also saw him reach 1,000 minutes for the club this season.
- If selected, brothers Finn and Ollie Ecrepont would come up against each other at Dumbarton. Defender Finn has made more appearances for Stranraer than anyone in the current Stair Park squad. Meanwhile, younger brother Ollie is on loan at Dumbarton from Ayr United.
- While Kirk McKnight’s career has taken him from Dumbarton to Stranraer, there are familiar faces who have headed in the opposite direction. Mark Durnan enjoyed a brief spell at Stair Park more than a decade ago, making four appearances on loan from St Johnstone. Morgyn Neill made more than 50 appearances after joining from Livingston in 2017 while Tony Wallace was a trialist in the 2017/18 campaign and came off the bench in a 2-2 draw with Queen’s Park. Finally, Chris Johnston is the most recent ex-Blue. He made 10 appearances in the second half of 2023/24.
- Durnan’s debut for Stranraer came in a 2-1 win over Berwick Rangers where a certain Chris Aitken joined Craig Malcolm on the scoresheet. The Stranraer team that day was: David Mitchell, Kane, Macgregor (Murphy 81), Durnan, McKeown, Shepherd, Aitken, Gallagher, Danny Mitchell, McColm (Winter 86), Malcolm (Cochrane 89). Not used: Kennedy and Marshall.
- Former Stranraer goalkeeper Greg Fleming turns 39 on Saturday. The shotstopper, who is now part of the coaching staff at Annan Athletic, made his Blues debut against the Galabankies.
Admission
Admission is via Dumbarton’s Fanbase online ticketing platform:
- Adult £15
- Concession (65+) £10
- Under 16 £5
Coverage
If you’re further afield, follow our live matchday updates on X (formerly Twitter).
The manager’s post-match reaction will be available via YouTube on Saturday evening.
Club 1870 subscribers will get a first look at the goals later in the evening, along with full match footage.
Our extended YouTube highlights will be available on Sunday morning, with Laurence Nelson joined by Martin McLelland on commentary.
Photos: Bill McCandlish, MadMac Photography, Colin Poultney (Collarge Images)
