Belief is high in the Stranraer dressing room as they look to round off the first quarter of the League Two season in impressive fashion.
Edinburgh City are the ninth opponents for Chris Aitken’s squad, who sit second in the table after eight games.
The Blues will finish the quarter no lower than second spot but, depending on results, could leapfrog Clyde at the top.
Meanwhile, the visitors from the capital will be looking to move into the play-off spots.
Understandably, after five wins from the opening eight games, Mark McLuckie felt the team were in a good place.
He said: “It definitely is not an arrogance but you have got to carry belief that what you are doing is right.
“Everything you are doing is the right thing and I think that is what stands us in good stead.”
McLuckie made the switch from Bo’ness United in the Lowland League to Stranraer in SPFL League Two during the summer.
Since then, he has grown into a key part of Aitken’s defensive line.
If selected on Saturday, it will be his 14th in a Stranraer shirt and his second against Edinburgh City.
The Meadowbank side were 2-0 winners at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park in the Premier Sports Cup back in July.
Twenty-three-year-old McLuckie was looking forward to facing them once again.
He said: “I think, arguably, it does not get much tougher.
“We are well aware on how they are going to play and how they are going to set up but even with their points deduction they seem to be on a roll right now as well as us.
“I think they are probably looking at us as well thinking they probably don’t want to play us right now.
“I think it has every making to be a good game.”
McLuckie was one of a number of new faces coming through the door in the summer.
And while he may not have been familiar to the home fans, he was certainly well known to the home management team.
He said: “I had played under Chris at East Kilbride when I was only about 16.
“That was in a Challenge Cup game against Falkirk, which was a good experience for me.
“It was Falkirk away and I had wee moments in the first team when I was still really, really young.
“I had experience with Chris when he was manager at East Kilbride and had worked under Martin Fellowes at the under-20s.
“I then followed Martin when he moved to St Cadoc’s and in my first year there I was loaned out to Kilwinning Rangers and Chris was manager there at the time!”
Last meeting
Edinburgh City enjoyed a midweek victory at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park at the beginning of the season.
Finn Ecrepont had already cleared one off the line from Lennon Walker before the visitors found their breakthrough with two goals in six minutes. Jack Leitch finished off a fine team move before team-mate Tommy North scored after Walker was denied by Max Currie.
Stranraer made changes to try to get back into the game but James Dolan’s off target effort was probably their best of the second half.
Stranraer: Currie, Dunne, McLuckie (Bruce 46), Lynch, Gillie, Ecrepont, Stuart (Hughes 61), Dolan, Traynor (Quigg 46), Binnie (Healy 46), Cleland (Dobbie 61).
Not used: Nair, Coll and Henderson.
Edinburgh City: Dowie, Grigor (Allen 46), McGregor, J Leitch (Pitt 73), R Leitch, Jarvis (Brodie 68), Lawson, Waugh, Wilson, Walker (McGinn 67), McKinley (North 14).
Not used: Cormack.
Last five meetings
- Stranraer 0 Edinburgh City 2 (J Leitch and North) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on July 21, 2026
- 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
Last five games
Stranraer
- WIN v East Kilbride (H): 4-3 (Quigg, McManus and Dunne x2)
- LOSS v Berwick Rangers (A): 3-2 (Foster and Dunne)
- WIN v Elgin City (A): 1-5 (Mason x2, McManus x2 and Dobbie)
- WIN v Dumbarton (H): 3-1 (Mason and Dobbie x2)
- WIN v Forfar Athletic (A): 0-3 (Dobbie (Pen), McLuckie and Dunne)
Edinburgh City
- LOSS v Formartine United (A): 2-0
- WIN v Dundee United B (H): 1-0 (Walker)
- WIN v Kelty Hearts (A): 1-3 (Walker, Jarvis (Pen) and North)
- WIN v Stirling Albion (H): 7-3 (Lawson x3, Jarvis (Pen), Foster x2 and Walker)
- DRAW v Queen of the South (H): 1-1 (J Leitch)
Last time out
Stranraer
Lineup v East Kilbride: Currie, Dunne, McLuckie, Nair, Coll, Dolan, Quigg, Healy (Lynch 88), McManus (Cameron 73), Dobbie, Cleland (Foster 69).
Not used: McCutcheon, Marshall and Henderson.
Edinburgh City
Lineup v Formartine United: Dowie (Reid 86), Gardiner, Law, Wright, Wilson (McDowell 56), Gemmill (Sinclair 56), Richardson, Arthur (Feeney 64), McMillan, Lynch, Towill (Palmer 64).
Not used: None.
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), Seb Mason (Carlisle United, loan), Mark McLuckie (Bo’ness United), Kenzi Nair (Heart of Midlothian), Dominic Plank (Heart of Midlothian) and Archie Traynor (Kilmarnock, loan).
Outs: Murray Binnie (Bo’ness United, loan), Sean Docherty (Albion Rovers), 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) and Sallu Turay (Linlithgow Rose).
Edinburgh City
Ins: Murray Aiken (The Spartans), Casey Bunker (West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats), Shea Dowie (Gala Fairydean Rovers), Keir Foster (East Kilbride), Euan Glasgow (Heart of Midlothian, loan), 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), Freddie Rowe (Dunfermline Athletic, loan), 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 Sharks), James Lyon (East Kilbride, end of loan), Max Mackay (Civil Service Strollers), Olly McDonald (Cumbernauld Colts), Chris McQueen (Queen of the South), Quinn Mitchell (Broxburn Athletic), Harry Olsson (Civil Service Strollers), 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) and Ouzy See.
Five facts
- Evan Dunne’s double against East Kilbride took him to five for the season. That’s the most any Stranraer defender has scored in a single season since Craig Ross finished joint top scorer with Tom Orr on six goals in 2023/24.
- The double also made him the 21st player to score twice for Stranraer in a game since the last time the club scored a hat-trick. That was Scott Agnew’s treble at Albion Rovers in September 2017. There have been 26 doubles scored with Angus Beith, Mark Russell and Lewis Dobbie all scoring two, and Deryn Lang scoring three. Also scoring doubles have been: Ryan Wallace, Stephen Okoh, Kyle Turner, Grant Anderson, Mark Stewart, Adam Cummins, Robert Jones, Cameron Elliott, Matty Yates, Ruari Paton, James Hilton, Paul Woods, Ryan Edgar, Finn Ecrepont, Seb Mason and Daniel McManus.
- Monday marks 84 years since former Stranraer forward Frank Coulston was born. He also includes Partick Thistle and Stenhousemuir among his clubs in the 1970s.
- Following Stranraer’s 4-3 triumph over East Kilbride last weekend, the Blues, under Chris Aitken, have finished with four goals in a game on five occasions. A 4-1 win over Rangers B (Tommy Sharp, Jordan Stuart, Corey O’Donnell and Scot Rough), 4-0 over Glenafton Athletic (James Dolan, own goal, Lewis Hunter and Ryan Edgar), 4-0 at The Spartans (Deryn Lang, Mark Russell, Aaron Quigg and Evan Dunne) and 4-1 at East Kilbride (Russell, Lang, Daniel McManus and Hunter).
- Stranraer scored 20 goals in September. That is the most the club has managed in a single month for exactly 50 years. The Blues found the net 22 times in nine games during September 1976.
Admission
Admission is ‘pay at the gate’. Season tickets are valid for Saturday’s league game.
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 ever-popular Pavilion Bar outside the away turnstile from 1pm 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
Stop off at the new club shop in the McLeans Taxis Stand, which is stocked with kits, exclusive Adidas teamwear, hats, scarves, umbrellas, pin badges, key rings, stickers and much more.
Cash and card payments are accepted.
Podcast
Catch the latest edition of club podcast Look Blues Talking for a full preview of this weekend’s meeting with Edinburgh City, along with post-match reaction from double scorer Evan Dunne and all the talking points from the 4-3 win over East Kilbride.
Coverage
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 on Saturday night, along with full match footage.
Extended highlights will be available via YouTube by Sunday morning, with Laurence Nelson and Brian Martin back together again on commentary.
Photos: Bill McCandlish, Dylan Heron