Arbroath keeper Derek Gaston is urging his side to keep the “feel-good factor” at the club going as they prepare to face local rivals Forfar.
The shot stopper put in a man of the match performance in the Lichties’ victory over Kilmarnock and is now warning his team-mates not to get complacent when Angus rivals Forfar visit Gayfield in the third round of the Scottish Cup.
Under Dick Campbell, Arbroath are flying in the Championship with just two league defeats all season.
TASC SOCIAL MEDIA MAN OF THE MATCH – RESULT
Congratulations to @dgaston_1 on winning the TASC Social Media Man of the Match for his performance in the @ArbroathFC win at Kilmarnock. The big keeper was a rock in the goal and pulled off some fantastic saves to keep a clean sheet pic.twitter.com/WrySbKWCi6— TASC (@TASC1878) November 21, 2021
Forfar are also in form, sitting second in League Two behind Kelty Hearts.
Momentum
Despite Forfar’s status two divisions beneath Arbroath, Gaston knows the Lichties must be wary of their Angus opponents who notched a 3-0 win over Cowdenbeath on Saturday.
He said: “Forfar are up in second in the league, they’ll be fancying the game as well. They’re on a good run.
“They’ll be confident of causing us a surprise and if we’re not on our game they are more than capable of causing a shock.”
Despite the threat of a cup upset, Derek is confident his side will continue their decent form.
“I think we’ve got to go and just try and keep the momentum going.
“When you’re on a good run you don’t want to change things too much. I don’t know what the gaffer’s plans are in terms of resting players or who’s available, but you just want to keep the feel-good factor about the place.
“You don’t want to go out and put in a poor performance, lose and then it could be doom and gloom again.
“We’re on a really good run and we’re doing well this season, you want to win every game.
“But I don’t think we could be in a much better place, in terms of how the season has started for us but you’ve got to just take each game as it comes.”
Man of the match
The Lichties’ win at the weekend narrowed the gap at the top of the Championship table to just two points, with Gaston playing a key role.
The 34-year-old made a series of crucial blocks in the game, with the stand-out save denying Olly Shaw in the first half when the striker was through on goal.
He added: “It’s been a while since I’ve made a few saves, in terms of earning us points, because the defence doesn’t really give too many chances.
“They defend really well and the chances are at a minimum, maybe making one save a game.”
