Lothian Thistle must be wary of 'banana skin' at Stirling

Lothian Thistle manager Raymond Carr wants to close the gap on Leith Athletic

Thistle remain unbeaten in the league this term having taken 16 points from 18 but trail league leaders and reigning champions Leith Athletic by five points, who have played a game more.

But with Leith not due to contest another league fixture until January 7, Carr views tomorrow’s trip up the M9 as an ideal opportunity to narrow the gap to just two points.

“I haven’t seen Stirling this season so I don’t know what they’ll have in store for us tomorrow,” he said. “Their season has been a bit up and down but that’s maybe due to the fact they’ll have players playing for their East of Scotland side one week and then they’re with the Lowland League team the next.

“We’re just taking it one game at a time so it’s up to us to keep on their (Leith’s) tails. It’s a potential banana skin for us tomorrow, make no doubt about it, but we’ve just got to go and handle it as best as we can and go and get a result.

“Teams do raise their game when they play us and that’s a fact. They want to do well against you. That’s good for us though as it keeps us on our toes.”

Carr continued: “It’s great to still be undefeated having played so many games and that includes pre-season friendlies. So it’s how you react when it does happen but I think we have a squad in place who have that strong winning mentality at this stage.

“There’s been a couple of times this season when we’ve been short for one reason or another and we’ve still managed to grind out a result.”

Elsewhere, struggling Ormiston are in action away to Eyemouth United whilst Tynecastle welcome Coldstream to Saughton Enclosure knowing that victory, their sixth in the league this term, could see them end 2016 in second spot should Lothian fail to win at Stirling.

Lothian Thistle must be wary of 'banana skin' at Stirling

Lothian Thistle must be wary of 'banana skin' at Stirling