Rovers boss looking for perfect birthday present

Mar 4 2009 by Colin Paterson, Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser

PAUL MARTIN says victory over Dumbarton would be the perfect birthday present.

The Albion Rovers boss turns 44 on Sunday and wants to celebrate by putting one over his old club the previous day.

The Coatbridge part-timers were due to host rock-bottom Elgin City last night, the first of eight matches scheduled in March.

Martin’s men knew a win coupled with an East Stirling success over Dumbarton would see them move into the all-important top four ahead of this Saturday’s crunch clash.

The manager told the Advertiser: “I couldn’t think of a better birthday present than winning at Dumbarton. Everyone is vying for position at this stage of the season so we know it is going to be difficult.

“My ambition was for the team to get more wins than last season, and now that we’ve done that, we have given ourselves a chance in the league.

“If we can win enough matches in March, then we know we will be in it until the final games.

“There is a lot of hard work ahead and there will be days like the one at Elgin where it feels like the end of the world because we’ve lost but we will also experience more days like Saturday when we were elated with the win over Annan Athletic.”

Martin added: “We are enjoying our football and enjoying our position in the league.

“We don’t have the pressure of expectation levels that other teams might have, but we have the pressure we put on ourselves to do well.

“I’m proud of the players for what they have achieved so far and I want us to stay positive during this busy period.”

Rovers could be missing centre-half Alan Benton for the trip to The Rock.