Albion Rovers boss hails impact of new signing after fine debut in Gretna

Albion Rovers boss Sandy Clark praised new signing Nathan Brown for his impact off the bench after he scored and set up another on his debut, helping seal an opening day win at Gretna.

The defender joined the Coatbridge club ahead of Saturday’s clash at Raydale Park and with Rovers leading 1-0 after Barry Duncan’s first-half free-kick, Brown came on in the 81st minute and took just a few minutes to get off the mark with a fine strike, before setting up Michael Paton for the clinching goal in a 3-0 victory.

That impressive contribution drew plaudits from boss Clark as Rovers kicked off their Lowland League campaign on a high. He said: “I have known Nathan for a long time. He was in training with Dumbarton during pre-season but didn’t really get anywhere there, so when the chance came up I took him in to train with us and he has done really well.

“I am delighted for him to come on and score on his debut, and make the third goal for us as well from a corner. I am really pleased for him and I was pleased to see Michael Paton come off the bench and score as well.

“Nathan took the ball 25 yards out and then got into the box before putting a really hard shot across the goalie, so it was a really good finish. He was unlucky not to score later as well, putting one just over the bar, so there is no doubt he had a good impact on the game.

“What I am trying to achieve is a really strong squad, not a really strong 11. I want 17 or 18 players all competing for places and I definitely have that. Everyone in the squad is capable of playing well for us.”

On the overall performance, Clark admitted it was far from straightforward for his side and was happy to come through the contest with all three points.

He said: “It is all about results