City take on local rivals Forfar Athletic this afternoon as they look to continue their good recent form which has seen them lose only once in 12 matches, and that loss occurred against the league leaders.

With a thumping victory against Cowdenbeath on Saturday, City players will be full of confidence ahead of the match against a Forfar side who are struggling at the bottom of the table. One main worry though is the state of the pitch, as it cut up badly in the match on Saturday. Manager Michael O’Neill may have to adopt a different style of play to cope with the conditions.

While Forfar Athletic have had a difficult season so far, they have shown in our previous meetings that they still possess enough to hurt teams, wherever they are sitting in the league table.

O’Neill is confident of getting a third win on the trot but he is wary of Forfar, he said: “We have to be full of confidence given the way we’ve been playing. Another three points in the bag would be useful to help close the gap between us and the top two, but we won’t be taking Forfar lightly.

“Although they’ve had a difficult season their 5-0 win over Stranraer shows they are capable of getting a result.”

Several players came in for praise from O’Neill at the week-end with the City gaffer delighted at the performances of Kevin Byers, Steven Hampshire, Ross Archibald and Stuart Callaghan but overall he was delighted with the whole team.

He said: “We have a lot of good players and the character is there. We just have to go on with that and keep working.”

There are two definite absentees for City in the shape of Scott Walker and Grant Johnson but defender John Ward is rated 50/50. Other than those, the rest of the players are ready to take on our local rivals in the New Year derby.

The Loons go into the Glebe Park derby having lost the last two matches between the two sides this season, with City victorious at both Glebe Park and Station Park.

Loons boss George Shaw said: “We are due a break against them. We’re looking forward to the game and there’s nothing like a derby at this time of year.

“Brechin have a lot of experienced players and boys who have played at a higher level. But it’s up to our boys and what we do on the day. I’ve told the players you don’t get anything without working hard, so hopefully they’ve taken that on board.”

The Loons gaffer has no fresh injury worries ahead of the match but keeper Sandy Wood returns between the sticks as No 1 stopper Sean Murdoch has returned to Dunfermline to solve a goalkeeping headache at East End Park.

Skipper Alan Rattray was on the bench at the week-end but he has shrugged off a groin injury and will most probably return to action against City this afternoon. Meanwhile, on loan centre half Mark Allison is expected to sign a deal keeping him at Station Park until the end of the season.

Supporters are reminded that the match has a 3:00pm kick off.