Striker Sallu Turay is hoping time spent in the stands will benefit him when he is back on the pitch.
Turay, who joined the club from Partick Thistle in the summer, has already found the net on four occasions – putting him behind only Deryn Lang and Mark Russell.
The frontman has been sidelined by a hamstring issue since the middle of October when he was forced off as Stranraer defeated Edinburgh City.
He has been doing his own warm up at games in recent weeks as he edges closer to returning to Chris Aitken’s squad.
Ahead of this weekend’s game against Stirling Albion, Turay revealed he was taking notes ahead of his return.
He said: “I know the gaffer is, obviously, struggling to pick his strongest 11 because every single person can play.
“I feel it is also good in the stand watching as well because when I come back in there are a few things, a few areas, where I think I could do better in this or it helps me with the football side of things, the positioning and that sort of thing.
“Everyday is a school day and you are always learning.
“Even when I am not playing, I am learning from the likes of Deryn Lang and Ryan Edgar.
“Obviously, I am still very young and need to learn from the more experienced ones like Mark Russell and BJ Coll.”
Just two points separate the two sides after 14 games of the league season but a positive result for the hosts would, hopefully, edge them towards the top half of the League Two table.
To do that, they will need to reverse the defeat at Forthbank earlier in the campaign where Stranraer had plenty of the ball, created a lot of chances but, ultimately, left with nothing.
Turay said: “I think we owe them one for the last game.
“I thought we definitely should have won that game.
“We had a lot of chances in the first half and the second half but we just could not put the ball in the back of the net.
“I feel like we owe them one, so, hopefully, we can go down and get a win.”
Last meeting
Stranraer created plenty of chances before ultimately going down to a Ryan Shanley goal.
Corey O’Donnell saw a header land on the roof of the net before James Dolan beat Derek Gaston only for the ball to be cleared off the line.
Stirling had chances too and Josh Lane did well to divert a Shanley strike onto the crossbar.
Jordan Stuart twice came close after the break before Stirling were celebrating the only goal of the game. A ball into the box was not dealt with by the visiting defence and Shanley was waiting at the back post to score.
Stirling Albion: Gaston, McGeachie, Hamilton (Ewen 68), Banner, Crane, McNab (Hodgkiss 68), Brown, Harkness, Cunningham (C Thomson 57), McLean, Shanley (Murdoch 83).
Not used: Carse, Featherstone, K Thomson, Cannon and Duffy.
Stranraer: Lane, Reid, Rough, Dunne (Docherty 69), Coll, Stuart (McManus 69), Dolan (Lang 72), Quigg (Sharp 87), Russell, O’Donnell, Turay (Hunter 87).
Not used: Ecrepont, McKnight, Edgar and Henderson.
Last five meetings
- Stirling Albion 1 Stranraer 0 (Shanley) at Forthbank Stadium on August 30, 2025
- Stirling Albion 3 Stranraer 1 (McGeachie and Shanley x2; Dunlop) at Forthbank Stadium on April 12, 2025
- Stranraer 3 Stirling Albion 0 (McKnight, Dunlop and Foster) at Stair Park on February 22, 2025
- Stirling Albion 1 Stranraer 1 (Kerr; Russell) at Forthbank Stadium on December 21, 2024
- Stranraer 0 Stirling Albion 2 (Sula and Brown) at Stair Park on September 28, 2024
Last five games
Stranraer
- WIN v Clydebank (H): 2-1 (Own goal and Edgar)
- WIN v Spartans (A): 0-4 (Lang, Russell (Pen), Quigg and Dunne)
- LOSS v East Kilbride (H): 1-3 (M Russell (Pen))
- WIN v St Mirren B (H): 2-0 (Lang x2)
- DRAW v Clyde (A): 0-0
Stirling Albion
- LOSS v Elgin City (A): 4-2 (Cunningham and McLean)
- DRAW v Elgin City (H): 1-1 (McLean)
- LOSS v Forfar Athletic (H): 0-4
- WIN v Peterhead (H): 2-1 (McLean and Brown)
- LOSS v East Kilbride (A): 2-0
Last time out
Stranraer
Lineup v Clydebank: Lane, Ecrepont, Reid, Rough, Dunne (Hughes 109), Quigg, Stuart (McManus 51), Dolan (Coll 90), Russell (Edgar 51), Plank (Docherty 103), Lang.
Not used: Hunter, McKnight, Sharp and Henderson.
Elgin City
Lineup v Stirling Albion: Duffy, Crane, Banner, Hamilton (Kerr 89), Hutchinson, Brown, Carse (Featherstone 105), McNab, C Thomson (Shanley 77), McLean, Cunningham (Hodgkiss 91).
Not used: Campbell, Cannon, Knox, K Thomson and Gaston.
Five facts
1. There has not been a goalless draw between Stranraer and Stirling Albion in more than 20 years. The last one came at Stair Park on September 18, 2004.
2. Stirling Albion defender Lee Hamilton was part of the Stranraer squad in 2019/20. His campaign was finished early when he came off against Forfar Athletic in the December – three months before Stranraer’s season was ended early by the Coronavirus pandemic.
3. Goalscorer Ryan Edgar found the net last weekend against Clydebank in the Scottish Cup. The strike takes him to nine for the club and means more than half (five) of his goals have come in cup contests.
4. It is more than a decade since Stranraer last played on December 6. In 2014, the Blues were 2-0 winners against Greenock Morton, who finished with nine men. Craig Malcolm scored either side of the half time interval. The Stranraer team that day was: Mitchell, Pettigrew, Longridge (Russell 89), Rumsby, McKeown, Bell, Gallagher, Stirling (Marenghi 86), Malcolm, Longworth (Aitken 78), Winter. Not used: Robertson, Gibson and Tobin.
5. No Stranraer player has scored more than one goal in a game against Stirling Albion since 2007. That man was Michael Moore, who scored twice while Andy Gibson netted from the penalty spot. Ian Cashmore, who also played for Stranraer, was on target for Stirling.
Admission
Admission in the Eco Gen Stadium at Stair Park is ‘pay at the gate’ only. Season tickets are valid for Saturday’s 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 – £15
- Concession (over 65) – £10
- Youth (5 to 16) – £5
- Under 5 – FREE
Merchandise
With Christmas nearly here, there’s still time to pick up Stranraer FC merchandise from the hut outside the main McLeans Taxis Stand.
Pick up your brand new Stranraer FC 2026 calendar (also available online via Shopify), along with club-branded Christmas bauble decorations.
As ever, we’re stocked with pin badges and key rings, limited sizes of this season’s new Adidas kits, hats, scarves, umbrellas, plenty of warm layers, and some great bargains.
Cash and card payments are accepted and we open from 1.30pm.
You can also purchase a range of merchandise online.
Pavilion Bar
Pop into our 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.
Podcast
Look Blues Talking is on a pre-Christmas break, but we’ll be back next Thursday ahead of the trip to Elgin, with a look at the lay of the land in the Scottish Cup and a full review of the East Kilbride and Stirling Albion games.
You can watch previous episodes on YouTube or listen via Spotify.
Coverage
A big thankyou to James Verity, who is stepping away from pitchside for the first few weeks of December to take on the main camera shoot and editing.
As usual, you can follow our live updates via X (formerly Twitter) on matchday.
The manager’s post-match reaction will be available on YouTube over the weekend, along with matchday highlights either Sunday or early next week.
Photos: Bill McCandlish, Colin Poultney (Collarge Images)
