Edinburgh City captain Josh Walker keen to avoid gifts on his 50th

As Edinburgh City captain Josh Walker prepares to make his 50th appearance for the club against Clyde at Ainslie Park tonight, he is hoping he and his team-mates can avoid marking it with the concession of any more late goals.

Josh Walker and Edinburgh City are on a four-match unbeaten run

Saturday’s 95th-minute leveller for Stirling Albion was preceded by Cowdenbeath earning a point late on a week ago, and Annan almost staging a comeback with two late goals in City’s 3-2 win at Galabank 72 hours previously.

Despite that, City remain unbeaten in four and Walker is determined to take the positives from that run of fixtures.

“Saturday was a sickener,” admitted the former England Under-20 captain.

“Last seconds of the game, to concede the way we did was frustrating to say the least. It’s just annoying and it’s happened the last few games now when we’ve conceded late on.

“That’s a few points we’ve dropped but, if you look at it from the other side, we’re on a good unbeaten run and we can’t lose sight of that. It just shows how far as a group and as a squad we’ve come in a short space of time.

“If the league had started at New Year we’d be on the top two or three in the table. It’s just frustrating it’s happened the way it has.

“I don’t know if it’s just a concentration thing. If it was something specific we could put our finger on, it’d have only happened the once. Maybe it’s that or a lack of judgment.

“The conditions on Saturday were horrendous, though. In all my life playing football, I’ve never played a game when the wind is like that. Normally it’s windy going one one way and you just go up against it. This was swirling down the middle of the pitch and made it impossible for both teams to play any kind of football. The fans must have come away thinking ‘what have we just watched there?’ because both teams were just unable to play.

“We’ve come away with a point against a team that’s been top three all season so on paper it’s a good one, but, the way it panned out, we were set up to take all three.”

Danny Lennon’s Clyde team have picked up in a similar manner to City. Their recent 3-2 win over James McDonaugh’s men at Broadwood was achieved in virtually the same manner as City’s identical result at the same venue back in September.

“Their run probably started the game they beat us 3-2,” reflected Walker, 29, who drew City level at 2-2 that day with a second-half penalty. “It was another last-minute goal and nigh on exactly the same as our win there, just the other way round.

“They’ve gone on a run after bringing the new manager in and pulled themselves well away from the relegation spot. It’s a game we’re going in to relishing, though. We’re on a good unbeaten run ourselves and have been playing some fantastic stuff since the turn of the year. Okay, Saturday wasn’t the prettiest but you’ve got to take other things into consideration.

“For myself and Beats [Craig Beattie] it’ll be our 50th appearance for the club so there’s an incentive there. Another three points against a team that will be tough would set us up well going into the Berwick game.”

The Bully Wee’s top scorer David Goodwillie is the obvious threat but, in Scott Shepherd, City have their own in-form striker. “Goodwillie is the player that stands out for them but Shepps is the same for us with the goals he’s been getting,” said Walker. “You look at both strikers and think they’re both capable of scoring at any time. We’ll need to keep an eye on Goodwillie but, at the same time, they’ll have to watch Shepps with the run he’s on and chances he’s getting.”