Albion Rovers squad will be stretched for key games in hectic fixture schedule

Brian Reid says his entire Albion Rovers squad will be needed to overcome a tough spell of fixtures heading their way.

The Wee Rovers didn’t play on Saturday due to Kelty Hearts’ Scottish Cup tie at St Mirren and now a pile-up of League Two fixtures has occurred.

Reid’s men will play a run of eight matches between February 15 and March 19, starting with a trip to Edinburgh City tonight, followed by Stirling Albion at Forthbank on Saturday.

Albion Rovers are ninth in the division and their boss reckons a couple of wins could see them eye the top half of the table.

Defeats, however, could have them looking over their shoulder at basement club Cowdenbeath, who sit six points behind.

Reid, whose side won 4-0 on their last trip to Edinburgh City, said: “We will need to use the full squad. We haven’t got an abundance of choice but the players have dug in. It’s been tough for some of the players as they have had to play week after week, even if they have been struggling.

“Hopefully with a couple of additions we can use the whole squad and bring a freshness. Going Saturday games into Wednesday can takes its toll.

“The players need to be ready to go and do a job as we have to start winning games. It’s that tight right now that if we win a couple, we are right in the mix.

“If we lose a couple, then we are getting dragged down the other way. It’s a pivotal moment in the season for us. We need to get back to what we were doing on our good run.

“At the moment, we aren’t scoring enough and losing poor goals. We don’t have much luck at the moment either. The Cowdenbeath game, for example, we had a penalty against us for little or nothing.

“They don’t help your cause so we might just be due a bit of luck. If we then start taking our