Arbroath may be sitting at the top of the League 2 table with six wins from seven games and have progressed in the Scottish Cup at Montrose’s expense however it is the one game that they lost that was occupying assistant manager Todd Lumsden’s mind this week.
Lumsden explained: “We have done very well and no one would have predicted the start that we have made. However it could have actually been better.
“When we lost to East Fife last month at Gayfield we never started the game well enough and hopefully that will not be repeated.
“East Stirling had a very good win at Albion Rovers and then saw off Whitehill Welfare in the Cup before losing to Queen’s Park last week.
“The fact that they went to Coatbridge and then Rosewell and won both times should be warning enough to us. We played well against Montrose in the two cup ties but we need to show a more ruthless side to our game.”
Striker Paul McManus, who bagged a hat-trick in last Saturday’s 3-1 success at Links Park, was exempt from that criticism, with Lumsden saying: “Paul did fantastically well for us in that game. All season he has been making chances for people but it was good to see him show that he can still find the net as well/”
Lumsden added: “We want to keep on winning games and keeping hold of top spot for as long as possible. If we beat the Shire then we will have done that and it sets us up nicely to end the first quarter on a high at Annan on Tuesday.”
Craig Johnstone is a doubt after picking up an ankle knock and Jack Smith remains out long term with on-loan Dundee midfielder Dylan Carreiro not being considered for selection after international duty in Canada.