Spartans manager Debbi McCulloch has her fingers crossed ahead of the men’s playoffs

Victory over Cowdenbeath on Saturday ensured Spartans took one step closer to promotion to the delight of women’s manager Debbi McCulloch insisting she has a “good feeling” ahead of their playoff games.

The club are four games off league football after celebrating the Lowland League title on the weekend. Spartans last reached the play-offs in 2018 where they lost to Cove Rangers over two legs. With the club scheduled to face the Highland League Champions on April 29th, McCulloch hopes they can go a step further than they did five years ago and celebrate promotion at the end of the season.

“The boys have done fantastically well this season,” McCulloch told the Edinburgh Evening News. “Great to see the cherry on the top yesterday, but now they have to push on and go that one step further than they did in 2018. We will see who wins the Highland League and take things from there. I know that if they have got a chance, this is a pretty good one, I have a good feeling.”

Unlike the men’s team, McCulloch’s side competes in the top division of women’s football as they sit eighth in the SWPL1. The women’s returned to Ainslie Park, a day after the celebrations took place as they saw out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Motherwell. Despite not continuing their winning streak, McCulloch who is also the Spartans Community Football Academy deputy CEO, believed it was a great weekend for everyone involved with the club.

McCulloch has a "good feeling" about the men's playoff chances. Credit: Malcolm Mackenzie

“When I did my team talk earlier, that was the first thing I said, I said it’s nice to be home,” McCulloch added. “It has been a great weekend with the guy’s team winning the league. The home dressing room was still dripping with champagne Sunday morning when we got in. Even though we didn’t get the win the players can be proud of their performance. It would be good to get a wee run at home and we’ve got Hamilton next week as well. It’s good to see good support too and we will welcome down as many people as we can.”