It has been the best part of 100 days since Stranraer last took on a League Two side.
Cup contests against Ayr United and Alloa Athletic have had their benefits, but Tuesday night’s visit of Edinburgh City to The LIME Stadium at Stair Park presents a chance for Stranraer to face one of their rivals this season.
The two sides met five times last term, with Edinburgh City holding the upper hand with two league victories and a penalty shootout triumph.
Kenzi Nair, who lined up for Edinburgh City’s neighbours Spartans last term, is looking forward to the game.
He said: “It will be a good test to see where we are compared to other teams in the league.
“I am going to go out there and say that, I think, we are probably ahead of a lot of teams.
“I think the preparation and stuff that we have done has been second to none.
“I think that is credit to Martin Fellowes, the sports scientist, the physio and everyone else in the backroom staff.
“The way they have helped us kick on through pre-season, I think, we are giving ourselves a right good shot to go and do something this season.”
The defender revealed there were a few familiar faces he could ask about the potential of moving to Stranraer.
The ex-Hearts man shared a dressing room with Matty Gillies, who enjoyed an impressive loan spell at The LIME Stadium last season, and Dom Plank, who also made the switch during the close season.
Nair said: “Being at Hearts with those boys, I trust them.
“I trust what they say and what they see in people and that it is going to be the right thing for me.
“When both of them told me about Stranraer, the coaching staff, the gaffer, everything about it, I felt like it was definitely somewhere that I wanted to be and I want to kick on in my career.”
Nair has started both games so far as Chris Aitken looks to go one step further than last year and reach, at least, the play-offs.
Saturday saw Stranraer twice lead at Alloa Athletic – as they had done against Ayr United – before losing out on penalties.
Nair felt there were positives to take, despite going down to defeat.
He said: “I think you can definitely see things that we are improving on, how we want to play this season, and you can definitely see that.
“I think there are obviously things that we need to fine tune but we are playing against Championship and League One opposition.
“For the majority of the games, we are going and dominating and doing really well and showing the quality that we have got in the team.”
Last meeting
An afternoon to forget for the visitors to Meadowbank saw Stranraer return empty-handed and finish with 10 men.
Innes Lawson opened the scoring with a cracking finish from distance with just 10 minutes on the clock. The second goal saw a free-kick to the back post, which was nodded back across goal and beyond Max Currie by Dylan Williams.
However, Stranraer were given a lifeline in first half stoppage time when Joe McGrath blasted home from close range.
Stranraer’s chances of getting something from the game were ended just beyond the midway point of the half. Divine Iserhienrhien outpaced the visiting defence and coolly finished.
Jason Jarvis scored from the penalty spot with five minutes left and it went from bad to worse as substitute Jordan Stuart was sent off two minutes from time.
Edinburgh City: Weir, Walker, Mitchell, McQueen, Jarvis, Lawson, Zaid, D Williams (Iserhienrhien 53), Lyon, Stokes (C Williams 40), See (Daramola 75).
Not used: Sula, Brodie, McDonald, Guthrie and Marinovic.
Stranraer: Currie, Reid, McGrath, Docherty, Gillies (Turay 73), Coll (Hughes 74), Dolan (Ecrepont 62), Quigg, Plank (McManus 62), Lang, Cleland (Stuart 74).
Not used: McKnight, Hunter, O’Donnell and Tas.
Last five meetings
- Edinburgh City 4 Stranraer 1 (Lawson, D Williams, Iserhienrhien and Jarvis (Pen); McGrath) at Meadowbank Stadium on March 7, 2026
- Stranraer 1 Edinburgh City 1 (Lang; Barrett) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on January 3, 2026
- Edinburgh City 1 Stranraer 3 (Lawson; Ecrepont x2 and McManus) at Meadowbank Stadium on October 18, 2025
- Stranraer 1 Edinburgh City 2 (Russell (Pen); Duncan and Barrett) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on August 9, 2025
- Edinburgh City 0 Stranraer 0 (Edinburgh City win 5-3 on penalties) at Meadowbank Stadium on July 19, 2025
Last five games
Stranraer
- DRAW v Alloa Athletic (A): 2-2 (Alloa Athletic win 4-3 on penalties) (Gillie and Quigg)
- LOSS v Ayr United (H): 2-3 (Dolan (Pen) and Traynor)
- WIN v Elgin City (A): 0-1 (Foster)
- DRAW v Stirling Albion (H): 1-1 (Lang)
- LOSS v Forfar Athletic (H): 0-1
Edinburgh City
- LOSS v Ayr United (A): 2-0
- WIN v Alloa Athletic (H): 2-0 (J Leitch and McKinley)
- LOSS v Falkirk (H): 0-5
- WIN v Brora Rangers (H): 2-0 (Iserhienrhien x2)
- DRAW v Brora Rangers (A): 1-1 (Iserhienrhien)
Last time out
Stranraer
Lineup v Alloa Athletic: 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.
Edinburgh City
Ayr United v Edinburgh City: Weir, Waugh (McGinn 68), Grigor, Jarvis, Wilson, Allen, R Leitch (Pitt 82), Walker, Lawson, North (Brodie 75), McKinley (Bunker 67).
Not used: Dowie.
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.
Edinburgh City
Ins: Shea Dowie (Gala Fairydean Rovers), Josh Grigor (Tranent), Jack Leitch (East Kilbride), Robbie Leitch (Clyde), Chris McGinn (Civil Service Strollers), Jordan McGregor (East Kilbride), Cammy McKinley (Tranent), Tommy North (Heart of Midlothian, loan), Callum Pitt (Civil Service Strollers), Lennon Walker (Caledonian Braves), Ricky Waugh (Queen’s Park) and Stanley Wilson (Heart of Midlothian, loan).
Outs: Bradley Barrett (Bonnyrigg Rose), Tiwi Daramola (Tranent), Max Guthrie (Troon), Divine Iserhienrhien (Airdrieonians, end of loan), Kasper Kitchin (Nova Southeastern University), James Lyon (East Kilbride, end of loan), Chris McQueen (Queen of the South), Quinn Mitchell (Broxburn Athletic), James Stokes (Peterhead), Erik Sula (East Kilbride, end of loan), Cole Williams (Airdrieonians, end of loan), Dylan Williams (Airdrieonians, end of loan), Malik Zaid (East Kilbride), Max Mackay, Olly McDonald, Harry Olsson and Ouzy See.
Five facts
- Aaron Quigg’s effort on Saturday ended a near two-year wait for a Stranraer goal in the 75th minute. Mark Russell was the last Stranraer man to score 15 minutes from time when he scored against East Fife on September 14, 2024.
- Stranraer have played Edinburgh City three times in July and, on each occasion, it has been the home side emerging victorious. The capital club won 4-2 at Ainslie Park (Robbie McIntyre, Gareth Rodger, Craig Thomson and Blair Henderson; Adam Cummins and Grant Anderson), before Stranraer won 2-1 at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park (Ben Armour and Tom Orr; Ryan Shanley). The last meeting, which took place on July 19 last year, saw Edinburgh City win on penalties at Meadowbank.
- Edinburgh City featured three former Stranraer players the last time the two sides met. However, each of Chris McQueen, Olly McDonald and Max Guthrie have since left the club.
- Tuesday marks birthday celebrations for both Conor O’Keefe and Stephen Swift. Midfielder O’Keefe turns 28 and is currently playing his football with Altona Magic in Australia. He started his career with St Mirren and had a loan spell at Annan Athletic before a short spell with Stranraer at the beginning of 2019. That saw 11 appearances before joining Elgin City and then Peterhead. Meanwhile, Swift turns 46. He played for Benburb, Livingston, Cowdenbeath and Linlithgow Rose before joining Stranraer. More than 100 appearances later, he joined Queen of the South and Ayr United before finishing his career in the Junior ranks with Irvine Meadow and Pollok. Now, he is manager at Cumnock Juniors.
- Two games into the season and only four players have played the maximum 180 minutes: Max Currie, Evan Dunne, Aaron Quigg and Zach Bruce.
Admission
Admission is ‘pay at the gate’. Season tickets are not valid for Tuesday night’s cup tie.
Away fans can enter the ground from the away turnstile opposite the main stand. This turnstile is cash only.
The following pricing applies:
- Adult – £17
- Concession (over 65) – £12
- Youth (5 to 16) – £6
- Under 5 – FREE
Pavilion Bar
Pop into our popular Pavilion Bar outside the away turnstile for a pre-match refreshment with fellow fans.
Home, away and neutral supporters are warmly welcomed, and the bar accepts both cash and card.
Or, stop off at the Stranraer FC Fitba’ Bar on North Strand Street in the town centre, which is also open to all.
Merchandise
An all-time best-seller, our brand new replica away shirt is available for purchase at the stadium. You can order yours online now, along with a range of Blues merchandise
As ever, the hut at the McLeans Taxis Stand entrance stocked with all three kits, exclusive Adidas teamwear, hats, scarves, umbrellas, pin badges, key rings, stickers and much more.
Cash and card payments are accepted.
Coverage
If you can’t make it, 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 on the night of the game.
Extended highlights will be available via YouTube on Wednesday, with Brian Martin joined by Euan “EUAN!” Home on commentary.
Photos: Bill McCandlish, Dylan Heron, Ian Irvine-Watson, Cumnock Juniors