Chris Aitken has called on his Stranraer team to finish the season on a high ahead of a long trip to Elgin City.
A gruelling season has seen the Blues play 50 matches and it all comes to an end on Saturday.
The two teams are locked together in fifth and sixth places in the Scottish League Two table.
Neither team can reach the play-offs but both will be keen to sign off the 2025/26 campaign with a positive result.
The Stranraer boss said: “There will probably be a few changes to the team on Saturday but the guys deserve to go and finish the season on a high.
“Plus, we will be going up there and will look to go and enjoy it.
“We will play with a little bit of freedom and, hopefully, we can finish the season on a high.”
Last weekend’s draw with Stirling Albion ended Stranraer’s hopes of finishing in the top four.
Forfar Athletic hold a five-point advantage going into the final round of fixtures and will extend their campaign through the play-offs.
Aitken was left “frustrated” by the 1-1 draw at the LIME Stadium, which means Saturday’s game is the final one of the season.
He said: “I think the players have been outstanding this season.
“When we had the turnover of players in the summer, we knew we were going to get off to a slow start.
“The guys kept faith.
“We had no wins in the first 11 games and then they got it turned around the way they did.
“I had complete belief in them and I said that.
“We had a lot of young kids there learning the trade for the first time but they took the detail in excellently.
“Every Tuesday and Thursday, their application was second to none.”
Saturday also marks the end of Aitken’s first full season in charge of the Blues.
He took the helm last October with an away win at Edinburgh City.
Since then, he has been the man in the dugout for a further 79 games.
Attention is already turning to next season, with Aaron Healy already confirmed as joining Aitken’s squad and new faces expected not long after the curtain comes down.
He said: “It never stops.
“You have got to keep on moving, you cannot stand still or just rest on your laurels because we have had a not bad season.”
Last meeting
A late Kyle Girvan goal saw Elgin City bounce back from going behind to pick up three points.
Kirk McKnight had already cleared one off the line at one end before Stranraer found a breakthrough at the other. Dean Cleland’s shot from outside the box caught out goalkeeper Tom Ritchie to give the home side the lead.
Elgin could have been level when Lewis Reid was penalised for handball but Max Currie proved equal to Russell Dingwall’s spot kick. Elgin would be level before the break though when a ball over the top caught out the home defence and Kane Hester smashed home.
The winner came with just a couple of minutes remaining when Girvan nudged the ball over the line following a scramble from an Elgin corner.
Stranraer: Currie, Reid, McGrath, McKnight (Quigg 59), Dunne (Docherty 69), Coll, Plank (Hughes 84), Gillies, McManus (Dolan 69), Lang, Cleland (O’Donnell 69).
Not used: Ecrepont, Turay, Hunter and Tas.
Elgin City: Ritchie, Murray, Cairns, Neill, Virtanen, Gallagher (Walker 76), Spalding (Girvan 81), Machado (Hyde 76), Dingwall, Hester (Hickey-Fugaccia 81), Sargent.
Not used: Cameron, Thompson, Mercer and Taylor.
Last five meetings
- Stranraer 1 Elgin City 2 (Cleland; Hester and Girvan) at The LIME Stadium on February 28, 2026
- Elgin City 1 Stranraer 2 (Murray; Plank and Rough) at Borough Briggs on December 13, 2025
- Stranraer 1 Elgin City 1 (Russell (Pen); Hester) at The LIME Stadium on September 20, 2025
- Elgin City 3 Stranraer 0 (Dingwall, Golding and Gallagher) at Borough Briggs on April 26, 2025
- Stranraer 1 Elgin City 0 (Grant) at The LIME Stadium on February 15, 2025
Last five games
Stranraer
- DRAW v Stirling Albion (H): 1-1 (Lang)
- LOSS v Forfar Athletic (H): 0-1
- WIN v Spartans (A): 1-2 (Turay and Quigg)
- DRAW v Dumbarton (H): 1-1 (Dunne)
- LOSS v Annan Athletic (A): 1-0
Elgin City
- DRAW v Spartans (A): 1-1 (Neill)
- DRAW v Stirling Albion (A): 2-2 (Sargent and Hester)
- LOSS v Annan Athletic (H): 0-3
- LOSS v Forfar Athletic (A): 2-1 (Hester)
- WIN v Clyde (H): 2-0 (Hester and Girvan)
Last time out
Stranraer
Lineup v Stirling Albion: Tas, Coll (Ecrepont 77), Reid, McGrath, Dunne, Quigg, Gillies (Stuart 77), Hughes (Cleland 65), Dolan (Foster 77), Lang (Edgar 70), McManus.
Not used: Hunter, Lynch, McKnight and Currie.
Elgin City
Lineup v Spartans: Ritchie, Murray, Neill, Cameron, Ross, Virtanen (Machado 90), Spalding (Hyde 85), Girvan, Dingwall (Thompson 85), Sargent, MacIver (Hester 85).
Not used: Cairns and Taylor.
Five facts
- Deryn Lang’s goal in the 46th minute last weekend was the first time in over a decade that Stranraer have scored in the first minute of a second half. The last player to do that was Jon McShane against Peterhead in February 2015.
- The goal also moved the striker onto 26 in a Stranraer shirt – ahead of players including Willie Gibson and Stuart McColm. One more would pull him level with Graham Duncan.
- Fans need to cast their minds back more than 15 years for the last time Stranraer won twice at Borough Briggs in a single season. An Armand One double gave Stranraer all three points at the beginning of April 2010 after Jason Crooks had opened the scoring for the home team. Then, later in the month, Stranraer produced an impressive turnaround to win 3-2. Craig Gunn and Alexander Jack had Elgin 2-0 up but Kevin Cawley scored twice either side of a Danny Mitchell goal to ensure the points were heading south.
- Michael Mullen Jnr only scored one goal for Stranraer but it would come in a 2-1 win at Borough Briggs. The frontman, who was back at The LIME Stadium earlier this season with Glenafton, turns 23 on Saturday. The visiting team on February 12, 2022, was: Scullion, Robertson (Woods 73), Burns, Ellis, Ross, McIntosh, Brady, Gallagher, Hawkshaw (Mullen 69), Yates (Walker 77), Duffy (Watson 69). Not used: Smith.
- Stranraer last won their final away game of the season in 2022. A goal from Craig Ross, alongside a James Hilton double, had them 3-0 up at Stenhousemuir. Adam Brown pulled one back for the Ochilview side but their chances were ended when goalkeeper Peter Urminsky was sent off late on.
Podcast
On this week’s episode of Look Blues Talking, we hear from returning strikers Ryan Edgar and Robbie Foster, review the final two home games, and look ahead to the final day of the season.
Admission
Admission is via the home club’s ticketing platform, with all pricing details below.
Stand tickets:
- Adult – £18
- Concession – £12
Ground tickets:
- Adult – £16
- Concession – £10
Coverage
If you can’t make it all the way to Elgin, worry not – 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.
Due to travel time, extended highlights will be available via YouTube later than usual on Sunday, with Laurence Nelson and Brian Martin making their final appearance of the season on commentary.
Photos: Bill McCandlish, Dylan Heron, Colin Poultney (Collarge Images)
