PAUL HARTLEY

We have ten games left to save our season.

I know that seems like a stark warning, but given our position in the Championship table, there is no other way to look at it.

With the pressure on down at the bottom, there is no value in trying to be cautious, picking up the odd point here and there. We have to win matches and that will be my approach from here on in.

I went into last week’s meeting with Morton with that mindset, starting with a front three of O’Halloran, Megginson and McIntosh, and we so nearly got the result we all wanted.

Having scored an excellent goal, we blunted Morton, stopped them doing what they like to do, and were well set to see the game out.

For eighty minutes the game plan worked, and then, not for the first time this season, individual errors cost us, and I can assure you it was a very subdued bus journey back up the road to Cove.

You cannot legislate for that, for players showing poor judgement at key moments, and it is something we are going to have to cut out.

We have spoken about that at training this week, and the guys know exactly what is expected of them.

I have to say that the attitude was brilliant last week, they gave me everything in terms of effort, and played some good football, so if we can maintain that level between now and the end of the season, we will give ourselves a really good chance to staying in this division.

Of course, there will be much focus on what’s happening with Hamilton and Arbroath, but we cannot afford to think about that or rely on other results. We have to concentrate only on what we can affect, and that is winning our own matches.

I can promise all our fans that we will be working hard over the next few months. In every game, you have to earn the right to play, you have to compete for everything, and that can take you a long way, but we also need quality all over the pitch, and despite the injuries we’ve suffered, I think I now have that.

It is a time in the season where you have to take risks, you have to be positive, because every win you achieve will have a massive bearing on the eventual outcome.

We have ten massive games ahead of us and we have to get it right in each one of them. There are still plenty points to be gained as we bid to retain our Championship status, and we will all be giving 100% to do just that.

Enjoy the game!

Paul Hartley

Midfielders

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— Season 22/23 statistics

This afternoon sees just the fifth meeting of Cove Rangers and Dundee, with the Dens Park outfit currently holding a narrow advantage on the head-to-head.

The pair were grouped together in successive seasons in the League Cup with the first encounter, in July 2019, ending goalless at Balmoral Stadium. Three of the Cove side sent their penalties over the bar, leaving Paul McGowan to secure the bonus point for the visitors.

There is a possibility not a single player who started for us that night will be in the team this afternoon. With Yule and Scully out injured, Scott Ross remains the only man who could get the nod, which is a measure of the changes there have been in recent times.

The next meeting was in November 2020 when Dundee took the points. McGowan had given them an early lead, but Cove were still in it until the sendings-off of Yule and Masson either side of halftime. Even then, it was not until the final six minutes that Dundee clinched their 3-0 victory.

Our first win against the Dark Blues came last October, and it was to be a night to remember for Connor Scully. Max Anderson had snatched the early lead for Dundee, but Mitch Megginson’s predatory instincts came to the fore as he equalised not long after. Cove took a grip with two goals in four second half minutes. Scully fired us in front with a superb scissors kick, then bettered that with an outstanding overhead effort which flew past Adam Legzdins to secure a memorable 3-1 triumph.

The most recent encounter was not quite as memorable. After a strong first half at Dens, the home side took a grip thanks to some shoddy defending, and ran out deserving 3-0 winners.