Preview: Cowdenbeath v Brechin City

After two games on the road we return to Central Park to face Jim Weir’s Brechin City as we look to maintain our position as league leaders. Successive 1-1 draws at Arbroath and Stirling coupled with Arbroath’s 4-1 home win over Forfar have allowed the Red Lichties to move within two points of us and Colin Cameron will be looking to maintain our impressive home record.

MATCH SPONSORS

Stenhouse, Husband & Irvine Solicitors of Dunfermline are our match sponsors on Saturday and we extend a warm welcome to them and hope that they enjoy their day at Central Park.

TEAM NEWS

Joe Mbu returned to the side on Tuesday night at the Doubletrees Dunblane Stadium after suffering a groin injury at Arbroath and clocked up his 99th Cowden appearance so will be hoping to hit the ton on Saturday. Scott Linton had to watch Tuesday night’s game from the stand following his red card at Arbroath. Scott completes his two game ban on Saturday. Top scorer Lewis Coult has been on fire in recent weeks scoring six goals in our last four games. ‘The Flamingo’ however, maybe doubtful for Saturday’s game after he burst an ear drum at Stirling on Tuesday night. On loan Gary Fisher’s stay at Central Park has now been extended until 27th April. The original deal was due to expire this week but Killie boss Kenny Shiels has allowed the youngster to remain with us to gain valuable first team experience.

Cameron and Thomas O'Brien returned to full training on Monday but this Saturday will come too soon while David Cowan is also making good progress.

COWDEN FORM

We are unbeaten at home in the league this season with 10 wins and 2 draws from 12 games. Only Dumbarton and Arbroath have left Central Park with a point to their name. Our recent form equals 2 home wins and 2 draws on the road.

BRECHIN FORM

City arrive at Central Park with the fourth best away record in the division. In their 11 away league games so far they have won 4, drawn 4 and lost 3. They have scored 13 goals and conceded 13 goals on their travels. They have been unbeaten so far during February with a 1-1 home draw with Airdrie which was followed up by a 3-2 win at Stirling last Saturday and a midweek 1-0 home win over Stenhousemuir which took them to within two points of the Warriors in the race to clinch a play -off spot.

CITY TEAM NEWS

Paul McManus is top scorer this season with 10 league goals; however Rory McKenzie, currently on loan from Kilmarnock, has scored in their last two games. An interesting tussle could be on the cards as he does battle with his Rugby Park stable mate Gary Fisher.  Veteran keeper Craig Nelson missed last week’s win at Stirling but returned for the midweek visit of Stenhousemuir.

PREVIOUS GAMES

The two sides have each won their home game this season. Back on 13th August we ran out 3-1 winners at Central Park. Mark Ramsay was injured while scoring the opener with Gary Brady grabbing an equaliser for City before the break. However second half goals from Marc McKenzie and Jordon Morton sealed our win. The return game at the Glebe saw only our second league defeat of the season with a goal from Charlie King seven minutes into the second half separating the sides.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Charlie Richmond is the man in the middle and he will be assisted by David Watt (stand side) and Chris Graham (terrace side).

Visit Kick Talk radio to listen to pre-match chat with Colin Cameron.