Burgh aiming to finish the season strongly after shock Broxburn defeat

Musselburgh Athletic have their sights firmly set on a top two finish in the East of Scotland Premier Division after firmly establishing their place in the top four in recent months.

Olivebank hosts an East Lothian derby tonight (kick-off 7.45pm)

Manager Liam Burns and assistant Wayne Sproule have taken the club from mid-table also rans to competing at the top of the table in just six months.

Leaders Linlithgow Rose don’t look like being caught as they hold a 12-point lead over Burgh but Sproule is eager to push the Prestonfield side all the way with eight league matches remaining.

“All the boys have done great so far,” said Sproule. “When we came in we were sitting tenth in the league, and now we are sat fourth; if you had offered us to be in the top four when we were sat tenth, we would have said ‘Aye, we’ll take that’ but in the same sense we want to push higher, the aim now is to finish the second. I am sure all the teams that have the chance will be wanting to finish second.

“We feel as though we are moving in the right direction, and we have a good chance of kicking on next year. We are trying to build something here, and we want boys to show they want to be a part of things next year.”

The Olivebank men are aiming to bounce back on Friday night when they host Haddington Athletic – who sit fifth – in an East Lothian Derby, after a shock 4-0 defeat at home to Broxburn Athletic last weekend.

Sproule continued: “We were poor and we found ourselves 2-0 down at half-time so we were chasing the game. We lost a stupid third goal and then the fourth finished it. It was just one of those days, we’ve not had many to be fair since we’ve been in.

“Touch wood, we normally bounce back quite well after a defeat, so hopefully that’s going to be the case on Friday. We are looking for a reaction from the boys. Haddington have a lot of good players, good young players and they have lots of energy about them, so it will be a difficult game.”