Midweek goalscorer James Dolan is aiming to be back involved and help Stranraer pick up a rare win at Forfar Athletic on Saturday.
The visitors do not have the best record at the venue in recent years, although Grant Gallagher’s header in January last year produced a welcome three points.
Dolan was on target against Celtic B on Tuesday night but was then forced off through injury.
He said: “It is a bit of a confusing one.
“In the Alloa game, I picked up a wee calf issue.
“It has kind of been bothering me since but I have been managing.
“I thought it was just cramp initially because that was how it felt.”
Stranraer had led 3-1 on Tuesday night after Dolan was joined on the scoresheet by Aaron Healy and Robbie Foster, who has re-signed for the club.
However, the visitors would fight back against Stranraer, who found themselves down to 10-men when Dolan went off and ultimately finished with nine men when Archie Traynor was shown a red card.
Dolan said: “It was a good game for the neutral but I think we have got to manage the game a lot better.
“Obviously, they are a young team and you can tell that they are, obviously, very good footballers.
“They specialise in that possession-based style of football.
“I thought we dealt with it well in large spells of the game but the whole game flipped on its head when I had to come off.
“Before that, there were times where we could have managed the game a wee bit better.”
Saturday brings a trip to Forfar and Stranraer looking to build on impressive recent form.
Prior to Tuesday’s cup clash, Chris Aitken’s men were on a four-game unbeaten run and Dolan is keen for another run to start this weekend.
He said: “We have not had the best record going up there.
“I don’t think in my time at the club we have ever won up there.
“The last time we played up there was 2-2 and we absolutely dominated them and should have won the game.
“It was missed chances cost us in the end.
“There is no reason why we cannot go up on Saturday and get the three points, especially with the way we have been playing recently.”
Last meeting
Jake Sutherland’s goal was enough to give Forfar Athletic all three points in the race for a play-off place last season.
That came after Stranraer were desperately unlucky not to find the net in the first half. Deryn Lang’s header was diverted by Sallu Turay before Marc McCallum pulled off a wonderful save. Turay reacted to the loose ball but then his header came back off the post.
Scott Shepherd came close for the visitors but the scores were blank at half time.
The winning goal would come with 61 minutes on the clock when Craig Slater’s cross into the box was headed home by Sutherland.
Stranraer: Tas, Reid, McGrath, Dunne, Gillies (Hughes 73), Coll (Ecrepont 79), Stuart (Hunter 73), Quigg, McManus (Edgar 73), Turay (Dolan 58), Lang.
Not used: Docherty, McKnight, Lynch and Henderson.
Forfar Athletic: McCallum, Lynas, Morrison, Allan (Dolzanski 74), Mailer, Bright, Slater, Wilson (Haddow 46), Alston, Shepherd (Rennie 89), Sutherland.
Not used: Strachan, Pasnik, Lemon, Richardson, MacLean and Vitols.
Last five meetings
- Stranraer 0 Forfar Athletic 1 (Sutherland) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on April 18, 2026
- Forfar Athletic 2 Stranraer 2 (Rennie and Sutherland; Ecrepont and Lang) at Station Park on January 10, 2026
- Stranraer 3 Forfar Athletic 1 (Dolan (Pen), Edgar and Lang; Slater) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on November 1, 2025
- Forfar Athletic 1 Stranraer 0 (Morrison) at Station Park on August 2, 2025
- Stranraer 0 Forfar Athletic 1 (Ferguson) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on March 22, 2025
Last five games
Stranraer
- LOSS v Celtic B (H): 3-4 (Dolan (Pen), Healy and Trialist)
- WIN v Kelty Hearts (H): 2-0 (Dobbie x2)
- WIN v Gala Fairydean Rovers (H): 3-0 (Cleland, Traynor and Hughes)
- DRAW v Stirling Albion (A): 2-2 (Dobbie and Dunne)
- WIN v Spartans (H): 1-0 (McLuckie)
Forfar Athletic
- DRAW v Edinburgh City (A): 1-1 (Shepherd)
- LOSS v Clyde (A): 3-0
- WIN v Stirling Albion (H): 3-0 (Arnott, Shepherd and Brown)
- LOSS v Aberdeen B (H): 0-3
- DRAW v Elgin City (A): 1-1 (Shepherd)
Last time out
Stranraer
Lineup v Celtic B: Henderson, Ecrepont, Nair, Lynch, Cameron (McKane 70), Stuart (Quigg 70), Healy, Hughes (Traynor 63), Dolan, Trialist (Mason 57), Cleland.
Not used: Currie, Dobbie, Dunne, McLuckie, McManus.
Forfar Athletic
Lineup v Edinburgh City: Stafford, Lynas, Wyllie, Dolzanski, Mailer, Alston (Brown 63), Arnott, Haddow, Syme, Shepherd, Rennie (Wilson 83).
Not used: Gadsen, Lemon, Pasnik, Whatley and McKeever.
Ins and outs
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).
Stranraer outs: Murray Binnie (Bo’ness United, loan), 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) and Sean Docherty.
Forfar Athletic ins: Aaron Arnott (Kelty Hearts), Adam Brown (Stirling Albion), Aiden Haddow (Heart of Midlothian), Adam Livingstone (Dumbarton), Theo Simpson (Aberdeen, loan), Neil Stafford (Hamilton Academical, loan), Marcus Syme (Hamilton Academical, loan) and Jack Wyllie (Rangers, loan).
Forfar Athletic outs: Scott Bright (St Johnstone, end of loan), Nathan Cannon (Clyde), Cormac Christie (Rangers, end of loan), Lewis Lorimer (Banks o’ Dee), Stuart Morrison (Arbroath), Mason Munn (Rangers, end of loan), Jamie Richardson (Lochee United, loan), Matthew Strachan (Inverness Caledonian Thistle, end of loan), Jake Sutherland (Dunfermline Athletic, end of loan) and Tyler Pasnik.
Five facts
- James Dolan’s penalty on Tuesday night was the first time Stranraer had scored in the 36th minute since Ruari Paton found the net against Stenhousemuir in December 2020. Coincidentally, that also came from the penalty spot.
- After Lewis Dobbie was an unused substitute on Tuesday night, Finn Ecrepont, Ronan Hughes, Aaron Quigg, Dean Cleland and Archie Traynor are the only players to have been involved in every game this season.
- Stranraer have not had the best of results at Station Park in recent years but that was not the case during the 2004/05 season. John Fraser scored the only goal of the game in the first meeting and Allan Jenkins and Murray Henderson scored before Barry Sellars pulled one back in a 2-1 win. Stranraer also won one of the two games at Stair Park (David Graham scoring) with the other finishing goalless.
- Robbie Foster scored twice in 149 minutes during his time on trial with Stranraer. That proved enough to win him a deal at the club.
- Tuesday night’s 4-3 defeat to Celtic B was the first time a game has finished with that scoreline at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park since October 2023 when Spartans won by the same scoreline. The last time the home side won 4-3 was against Brechin City on August 3, 2013. Goals from Ryan Borris, Scott Robertson, a certain Chris Aitken and David McKenna had the Blues 4-0 up with 48 minutes on the clock. However, a Ryan Donnelly double and then a Bobby Barr effort ensured an exciting finish. The home side was: Mitchell, Macgregor, Docherty, Robertson, McKeown, Aitken, Gallagher, Borris (Corcoran 76), Winter, Grehan, McKenna (Forde 83). Not used: Kinnaird, Maxwell and Fahey.
Admission
Tickets can be purchased online in advance via the home club’s online ticketing platform.
Cash only turnstiles are also available on the day.
Admission prices are as below.
David McGregor Stand
- Adults – £18
- Concessions (65+, 16-18 year old) – £14
- Under 16 – £5
Terracing
- Adults – £16
- Concessions (65+, 16-18 year old) – £12
- Under 16 – £5
Non-season ticket holders under the age of 16 will only be allowed access to the fixture if accompanied by a paying adult.
Visit the Forfar Athletic website for full details.
Podcast
Check out the latest edition of club podcast Look Blues Talking for a full review of the win over Kelty and the midweek meeting with Celtic, plus a preview of Saturday’s trip to Forfar.
Coverage
If you can’t make it to Forfar on Saturday, 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 Sunday morning, with Laurence Nelson and Brian Martin on commentary.
Photos: Dylan Heron (DylzVisualz), Bill McCandlish, Colin Poultney (Collarge Images)