Captain’s view

IT’S HARD TO EXPRESS HOW PROUD I FEEL TO BE THE CAPTAIN OF THIS GROUP OF COVE RANGERS PLAYERS.

I grew up supporting this club, so it’s a dream to see us now with the opportunity to compete in the Championship play-offs.

I gave up playing at Championship level to come to Cove, when we were in the Highland League. That’s because it was my dream to be back up there some day with Cove.

The job’s not done yet - but thanks to the efforts of every single one of my team-mates we at least have that opportunity.

I get a lot of the headlines for scoring important goals, but it really has been a team effort. Our keeper Stuart McKenzie, for instance, has played every minute of every match we have played since stepping up to the SPFL.

Stuart has also made countless crucial saves that are often overlooked because we went on to win the games, he has been amazing. I can assure you I value having what I regard as the best keeper in League One behind me.

Our squad is packed full of unsung heroes, who have all done their bit at some stage to ensure we qualified for the play-offs. They include Harry Milne and Jamie Masson, who are injured at the moment. They made massive contributions during what has been an extremely challenging campaign and it would be great if if we could eventually secure promotion for them.

The hardest part, of course, has still to come.

We are team that is used to winning titles, so we are disappointed we weren’t able to do that this season. But we can still take pleasure out of seeing where we have got to in such a sort spell of time since becoming an SPFL club.

>>> On behalf of the players, I want to thank the coaching team and their backroom staff for all they that they have done to make sure we were able to compete as well as we have already. They are the ones who set out the training sessions and provide us with all of the information needed to ensure we go into every match believing we can win. They have all done an excellent job.

The professional approach from them has filtered through to the players and we know we would never be where we are now if they weren’t doing all the stuff they do so well behind the scenes.

I would like to give a special mention to our fitness coach, Tam Ritchie. His experience and skills have been invaluable this season, especially since we returned from the second lock-down. Having done everything in the game, Tam knew what we needed to do to cope with the demands put upon us. I don’t think I’ve ever been as fit as I am now and much of the credit for that goes to Tam.

We have all particularly valued his advice on how to recover between games. The fact we able to perform as strongly at this stage of the season underlines the good work Tam does. He is one of the best coaches I have ever worked with. Manager Paul Hartley won’t thank me for it, but I’m also going to thank him for his efforts. His record as a player and manager speaks for itself. All of us were delighted when the club announced he would be the one leading us in the SPFL and he has done a remarkable job over the last two seasons.

The manager has been the driving force and taken us up to another level. We know he will continue to demand more, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Now all of that is out of the way, I will return to the challenge immediately in front of us today. It’s the old cliche of never looking any further forward than the next match.

We want to finish second in the table to ensure we head into the play-offs in the most favourable position possible. Airdrie, however, are here needing the three points to help secure their playoff spot, so we are guaranteed another tough game. We have faced that challenge all season and will do our best to rise to it again.

CYCR!

Mitch Megginson