Why Linlithow Rose have their mojo back under Gordon Herd, with 14 wins in a row

New manager Gordon Herd 'has made an impact' on the squad.

Recently appointed club captain, defender Gary Thom – in his eighth season at the club – feels Rose have finally found their mojo. Crowds are back in their droves at Prestonfield and free-scoring Rose are back at the top end of the league.

“I’m excited by what this team can do going forward,” said the 32-year-old.

“It’s been quite the bulk of the same players for most of my time at the club, so it was strange initially [a whole new squad coming in]. It’s a young group, and we maybe needed that, the management team have brought us all together.

“The new manager has made an impact on the squad and we’ve hit it off really well as a team, the players that have been brought in, we’ve worked well together and fought for each other.

“We had good players before but maybe the change in personnel and the way the management team are pushing us to play has been key. The tempo and work rate is paying off, we are playing at a higher tempo and keeping it up.”

Third place Rose are aiming to usurp Tranent who are idle this weekend as they look to make it 15 victories in a row in all competitions.

They face a formidable Musselburgh Athletic side, however, who are on a 10-game unbeaten run of their own and were the last East of Scotland Premier outfit to take points off Rose when they drew 2-2 back in August.

Thom continued: “Fourteen games won in a row is brilliant. Penicuik and Tranent’s form has been really good, so we know there is not a lot of room for error. We just need to take it each game as it comes and keep playing the way we are playing.

“Saturday will be another tough test, they in good form and their home form is excellent. We will need to make sure we are 100-per-cent focussed again.

“It’s always entertaining against them; we’ve had a few good games down there and at home against them since I’ve been here. We will need to be right at it.”