Allan Hale says Clyde's 6-1 thrashing of League 2 leaders Stenhousemuir wasn't a freak result but he will have Elgin City ready to take on a buoyant Bully Wee this weekend
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Unbeaten in their last three games against the top three sides in League 2, Elgin City won't be resting on their laurels.
For the next challenge facing Allan Hale's side is a trip to bottom side Clyde, who just happened to thrash runaway table toppers Stenhousemuir 6-1 on their own patch last week and will be in a rich vein of confidence.
City boss Hale admits a tinge of disappointment that his own team didn't defeat Stenny and Peterhead in their last two outings, each time having to settle for a draw.
The Black and Whites had the better chances at Balmoor Stadium last weekend against a Blue Toon side desperately trying to chase down the leaders.
Dajon Golding's equaliser earned a 1-1 draw in Buchan.
But having won at third-placed Spartans before their two draws, City themselves have built up some momentum in their battle to push away from the relegation zone.
"It’s probably a sign of the improvement that the players have made in the fact that we are disappointed we don’t have the full nine points to show (from the last three games)," Hale said.
"Arguably it could easily have been the case. But on the flip side, we are creating chances against the best teams in the league and two of those three games have been away from home and we have put in a really strong level of performance.
"So there’s frustration but also satisfaction in terms of the consistency of level of performance that the players are showing at the moment."
While City were pressing hard in Buchan on Saturday, Clyde went to town on the Warriors as they came from behind to pull off the sensational result of the season so far.
Could the Bully Wee's 6-1 stunner be just a one-off result?
"It was not a freak result at all," Hale said. "I’ve watched the game and they played really well, scored some really well-taken goals and had a good structure about them away from home against the runaway league leaders.
"Clyde have spent a lot of money in the January transfer window and probably have the biggest budget in the league so they will be expecting themselves to have a turn around on the balance of that.
"Sometimes it takes time for new signings to gel and they are maybe feeling within themselves that they are starting to gel as a team now.
"That being said, we can take confidence from our own form and we know when we are on form and play well, we are a difficult team to play against.
"We can’t read too much into the (Clyde) result. They have a lot of good players and a very experienced manager so we need to make sure that we prepare well and our focus will be on making sure we can go there and implement our own game plan.
"We need to maintain the consistency and not allow the performance levels to drop. We’ve got a really important 10 or 11 games left and it’s important that those levels don’t drop.
"We just focus on ourselves and be in control of the things we can, our own preparations and the performance levels that we can put in on a Saturday.
"Despite the good run of form we are still in a fight, there’s no question about that.
"Every team seems to be picking up points at the moment so for us it’s all about the next game and just continuing to work on that basis and see where it takes us.
"Getting a few wins would give us the breathing space that we need for the last section of the season."
Experienced stopper Ross Draper wasn't risked at Peterhead due to a hamstring strain but trained this week and should be available for selection at Clyde.
