Brechin boss Barry Smith will once again be down to the bare bones for this afternoon’s crunch clash at Airdrie.
The Glebe gaffer had just three outfield subs at his disposal in his side’s last game, the 5-2 defeat at Montrose two weeks ago.
The break has given some of his players much-needed time to recover from knocks including experienced former Scotland and Dundee United midfielder Scott Robertson.
However, others are still struggling for fitness while another recent signing is unavailable meaning Smith’s bench options will once again be limited against the Diamonds.
The manager said: “We have a squad for Saturday but it looks like we will only have two on the bench.
“The break has probably given players who took knocks in the last game a wee bit more time to recover.
“But it is still too early for Jordan Tapping, Callum Tapping, Dene Shields and Sean Burns while Lewis Toshney will also be missing due to a family bereavement.
“However, Scott Robertson is fit again and available for Airdrie.
“We have until the end of the month to add players but we think we have recruited well.
“Obviously we have brought in Lewis and Scott along with Tam Scobbie, Craig Thomson and Ross Kavanagh but we also had five going out.
“Once we have everyone back fully fit we will certainly have a strong squad to choose from.
“We would like to bring in another player but it has to be the right one.
“I certainly don’t like wasting money so we have to make sure we bring the right person in.
“But we have belief in the ones that are there who are playing.
“If we are at the top of our game then we are a match for the majority of the teams in the league.”
Brechin will face an Airdrie side who have not won since January 5 but Smith is under no illusions about how difficult the game will be as his team look to pull clear of the relegation zone.
He added: “It is never an easy place to go to on a big pitch.
“They beat us 1-0 at the Glebe in a close game but we will go there and make sure we defend well from the front.
“If we do that we will give ourselves every opportunity.
“They are going through a wee spell as well where they are not picking up the points they would want so there is a lot to play for on Saturday.”
