Seb Mason has urged Stranraer to embrace the pressure that comes from being top of the table.
The Blues have a target on their back after moving into first place in the League Two standings following the goalless draw with Edinburgh City earlier this month.
There was an impressive win over Annan Athletic last time out in the league and Spartans are the next team to try to dent Stranraer’s title ambitions.
Mason said: “Other teams will look at us and we are now the team that they want to shoot down and we are the team to beat.
“But we take it in our stride.
“That is what we want at the end of the day; we want to be top of the league.
“We need to go and play like we are top of the league, play with that confidence and don’t let any outside noise get to us.
“I think if we do that it will only help us really.”
Mason’s arrival at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park coincided with Stranraer’s upturn in form.
He came off the bench to make his debut against Saturday’s opponents in August.
Since then, Mason and strike partner Lewis Dobbie have found the net on 11 occasions, with the 18-year-old scoring four.
The latest of those came on Tuesday night when he scored from the penalty spot in the 3-3 draw with Kilmarnock B.
He said: “I practise my penalties and I have got a routine that I go through.
“I would say it is almost impossible to get in my head at that moment.
“I just block everything out, breathe and put it in the corner.
“It didn’t work with the second one but you cannot score them all.”
The on-loan Carlisle United man is no stranger to Scottish football having enjoyed a loan spell with Queen of the South last term.
Seven substitute appearances gave Mason an introduction to the miles he has been clocking up for Stranraer.
He said: “Having that time at Queens allowed me to come back in pre-season at Carlisle and have a bit more edge to my game, a bit further knowledge of the game.
“When I came to Stranraer, Scottish football was not unknown to me.
“I found that definitely helped because I knew I was not going to come to Scotland think that this was going to be easy.
“There was none of that in my mind and I know the level.
“It is a different league but I know that Scottish football is a good level.”
Last meeting
Stranraer got their season up and running with victory over Spartans back in August.
Mark McLuckie was denied by the legs of Paddy Martin in the first half while Cammy Russell saw his lob of Max Currie drop wide of the goal. Mark Stowe also had a really good chance before the break but the game was goalless at half time.
The only goal would come as McLuckie glanced home Finn Ecrepont’s corner.
Stranraer: Currie, Dunne, Ecrepont, McLuckie, Gillie, Quigg, Traynor (Healy 66), Bruce (Stuart 59), McManus (Hughes 59), Dobbie, Cleland (Mason 66).
Not used: Nair, Lynch, Foster and Henderson.
Spartans: Martin, Mudie, Sonkur, McKay (Tapping 54), Drysdale, Whyte, Welsh (Dishington 82), Russell (See 82), Walls (Craigen 64), McNulty, Stowe (Dinanga 64).
Not used: Dall, Heal and Campbell.
Last five meetings
- Stranraer 1 Spartans 0 (McLuckie) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on August 15, 2026
- Spartans 1 Stranraer 2 (Stowe; Turay and Quigg) at Ainslie Park on April 11, 2026
- Stranraer 2 Spartans 1 (Cleland and Quigg; Own goal) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on February 21, 2026
- Spartans 0 Stranraer 4 (Lang, Russell (Pen), Quigg and Dunne) at Ainslie Park on November 22, 2025
- Stranraer 0 Spartans 2 (Dishington and Russell) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on September 13, 2025
Last five games
Stranraer
- DRAW v Kilmarnock B (H): 3-3 (Mason (Pen), Quigg and Plank)
- WIN v Annan Athletic (A): 1-6 (Healy x2, Traynor, Own goal and Cleland x2)
- DRAW v Edinburgh City (H): 0-0
- WIN v East Kilbride (H): 4-3 (Quigg, McManus and Dunne x2)
- LOSS v Berwick Rangers (A): 3-2 (Foster and Dunne)
Spartans
- DRAW v Bonnyrigg Rose (H): 1-1 (Dinanga)
- WIN v Edinburgh City (A): 1-3 (McNulty, Mudie and Welsh)
- LOSS v Kelty Hearts (H): 0-2
- WIN v Dundee B (H): 1-0 (Own goal)
- DRAW v Gala Fairydean Rovers (A): 0-0
Last time out
Stranraer
Lineup v Kilmarnock B: Henderson, Coll, Nair, McLuckie, Cameron (Dunne 57), Quigg, Healy, Stuart (McCutcheon 82), Dolan (Plank 62), Cleland (Foster 57), Mason (Dobbie 57).
Not used: McKane and Currie.
Spartans
Lineup v Bonnyrigg Rose: Carswell, Mudie (Taylor 76), Dall (Hewie 60), Sonkur, Whyte, Dishington, Walls (Wilson 87), Heal, Ross (Del Giacco 76), Dinanga, Stowe.
Not used: Halliday and Martin.
Five facts
- Stranraer’s third goal against Kilmarnock B involved two substitutes: Lewis Dobbie setting up Dom Plank for the goal. That’s the first time it has happened since Plank set up Lewis Hunter to score in the Scottish Cup win over Glenafton Athletic in October last year.
- Aaron Quigg’s goal was the first scored in the 80th minute since Corey O’Donnell found the net against Rangers B in August last year.
- Jordan Stuart’s next appearance in a Stranraer shirt will be number 50. He has started on 26 occasions and came off the bench a further 23 times. Along the way, he has scored one goal – against Rangers B last season.
- Former Stranraer defender John McCaffrey was born on October 17, 1972. He played for Hearts and Albion Rovers before going on to make more than 70 appearances for the Blues in the mid-1990s.
- Chris Aitken recently passed 100 games in charge of Stranraer. However, brother Stevie is still out in front with 126 games at the helm. His first was a 4-1 win over Forfar Athletic almost 14 years ago. Craig Malcolm scored twice while Chris Aitken and Frank McKeown also found the net. The Stranraer team was: Mitchell, Staunton, Kinnaird, McKeown, Dunlop, Gallagher, Aitken, Borris (Wright 14), Winter (Love 89), Moore (One 78), Malcolm. Not used: Agnew and Cadwell.
Admission
Tickets and admission details for Saturday’s game are available from the Spartans website.
Coverage
If you can’t make the journey to Edinburgh 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 back on commentary.
Photos: Dylan Heron (DylzVisualz), Bill McCandlish, Colin Poultney (Collarge Images)