Stirling Albion boss Alan Maybury admits his side’s home form this season has been a source of concern – but is hoping his side can round off the first round of fixtures in style on Saturday.
The Binos host Forfar Athletic at Forthbank sitting fourth in the early League Two table, with the weekend clash marking the quarter point of the season with everyone then set to have to faced each other once.
It has been an up-and-down start for Stirling, with four wins and four defeats – perhaps to be expected as the side continues to gel following a manic summer rebuild.
But three of those wins have come on the road, a 1-0 against Spartans at the end of August – the only time Stirling have claimed three points in front of the fans at Forthbank.
Maybury acknowledged that trend needs to be reversed against Ray McKinnon’s outfit, who come into the game off the back of consecutive wins which have lifted them off the foot of League Two.
The Irishman said: “We’ve won half of our games which has been a good start, but there have been a few games where we could have done better, the East Fife and Bonnyrigg matches stick out.
“Those matches are at home where we need to be doing better, but if we can get something from Forfar then that will be a very decent return from starting with eight players in the door and the injuries we’ve had in the early part of the season.
“It’s been important to see players like Jack Harkness and Ross Davidson getting through 90 minutes down in Stranraer, Alex Ferguson will continue to improve as he works with us and I only see positive signs within the group.
“I firmly believe we’re going in the right direction, training has been good and the players are buying in to what we want to do; that process takes a bit of time for everyone to find their feet and for things to bed in.
“I’ve said before that the teams ahead of us are much further along in their cycle – Peterhead have been building for two years now, Dick [Campbell] has been at East Fife for a while.
“We’re just at the start of things, it’s been pleasing but we need to find that consistency which can hopefully come with more reliable selection in the squad.”
Forfar sit in seventh in the table on eight points after their dual wins over Stranraer and Bonnyrigg over the last fortnight.
The Binos have enjoyed a strong record against the Loons in recent seasons as they are unbeaten in their last six encounters with Forfar stretching back to December 2021.