FORFAR will give their all in a bid to win their first derby game of the season in their last meeting with BRECHIN today.

Every man standing will be counted on by Sky Blues boss George Shaw, whose plans for the Station Park clash have again been hit by major injury trouble.

The shocking list of casualties includes Craig Lumsden, Alan Rattray, David Dunn and David King, with Mark Allison’s knee injury picked up in last week’s meeting with Raith Rovers also ruling him out.

A serious mouth abscess which sidelined David Keogh at Kirkcaldy has meant he has been unable to train and even consider a return to action.

Adding to the gaffer’s woes is the suspension of Barry Donald.

The only glimmer of good news is that Gregory Tade trained with the squad on Thursday night after overcoming an ankle knock and will be in the pool.

“The situation with players doesn’t seem to be getting any better, but it’s not something that I’m going to spend any time complaining about,” said Shaw.

“What we have to do is concentrate on the game against Brechin and what we are going to do.

“The fact it’s a derby says it all. It’s going to be hard, but we’ve got to take the game to them.”

Trialist centre-back Steven Tulloch, who played for Forfar against his former club last Saturday, will be handed another place in the line-up.

“He’s a young lad who did very well and has really settled in during the time he’s been with us,” continued the manager.

The Loons have been on the receiving end of two defeats at the hands of the Reds, but earned a draw from their last encounter.

A win will provide vital points for Forfar who are refusing to throw in the towel despite being firmly anchored to the floor of the table.

“I have not given up hope and neither have the players,” added Shaw.

On recent form, discounting last Saturday’s debacle at home to Stirling, Brechin should be favourites, but City manager Michael O’Neill knows from experience local derbies can be tricky affairs and can throw up some nasty surprises.

He also concedes Forfar have improved a fair bit since their last meeting and, while he is keen to collect all three points, he accepts it’s far from a foregone conclusion.

“Our objective is to take as many points as possible between now and the end of the season but they have been involved in results you would least expect and they will be difficult.”

There is also the worry that a bitter aftertaste from last week’s controversial clash with Stirling Albion could still be lingering to take the polish off his men’s performance.

The Brechin players were left bristling after some baffling decisions which saw them go down 4-1 to Stirling but O’Neill now prefers to focus on the game’s more positive aspects.

“I was very disappointed with the performance of the referee but the players deserve a lot of credit for the way they played and we were pushing for an equaliser when we lost the two late goals in the last couple of minutes,” said the Glebe Park boss.

Darren Smith and Chris Hughes are suspended, but Steven Ferguson and David White return.

However, a lasting blow from last Saturday is the two suspensions for Darren Smith and new boy Chris Hughes, just as Steven Ferguson and David White are due back from theirs.

“Smith is obviously a huge loss for us,” said O’Neill. Fortunately the two due back are in form players for us and hopefully that will help.

“The suspensions are something we just have to deal with. These things can be avoided but we have coped well when players have gone out in the past.”