Francesc Fabregas

Mother of God. I didn't realise their suspensions carried into the Scottish Cup. Creag Little is probably the outfield player we can least afford to be without given the paucity of quality in defence. Davie Irons might go with a back three but that would mean two inexperienced centre-backs in there instead of the one. I'd fancy Kilmarnock for this one.

I paid £12.50 for a stream to watch East Fife -vs- Cove Rangers that didn't work, so if this game simply takes place it will not be the worst money I have spent this season. Always great fun to watch players you're vaguely aware of but could not recognise heading balls at each other for 90 minutes!

Great post, thanks for that.

I think we've chucked our chance of getting into the top four after losing to Edinburgh City and Stirling Albion so the Scottish Cup is our only chance of something tangible this term. There is zero pressure on Stenhousemuir so we should put our strongest available XI, see what happens and have a laugh. Kilmarnock are a dreadful outfit but to their credit, they looked superb in their win over Motherwell last month and in Kyle Lafferty they have a gifted, unpredictable attacker who can cause damage to most teams in Scotland. They cannot afford to lose this match and I imagine if they're not ahead after 25 minutes, I reckon they'll be a bit nervous. I'm not sure who we're looking in terms of injuries and suspensions but all things being well let's go with: - Tam Muir - Mark McGuigan - - Botti Biabi - Callum Tapping - Ryan Blair - David Hopkirk - - Callum Yeats - Creag Little - Chris Kane - Jonathan Tiffoney - - Paddy Martin - I'm fully expecting Kilmarnock to win this by a couple of goals but then I thought the same thing when we pitched up at Rugby Park for our League Cup tie in 2013.

I have just purchased stream for this match. I have a suspicion it will be a dreadful game of football but I am looking forward to it all the same.

Good to read the club have taken the decision to move the automated camera to a new position within the main stand to the improve the video and audio quality of the match-day streams. It's been an ongoing issue and I'm pleased it's been addressed before Saturday's Scottish Cup tie with Kilmarnock, an encounter that's likely to be our most-watched match this season.

Greig Spence has signed for East Fife on loan until the end of the season. I'm not surprised to see him move on. Spence has been a poor piece of business overall and although his goals were always important (he scored twice against Elgin City last term and got another brace against Edinburgh City this season), I thought he contributed little to the team and Mark McGuigan and Tam Muir offer much more in attack. A lot of thick marks yelped: "what a signing!" when we recruited him from Arbroath without realising he'd gone for almost two years without scoring a league goal so I can't say I was all that disappointed with what we got from him. That said, I don't think Davie Irons did his best to play to Spence's strengths. He's a penalty-box striker but was fielded out wide in a 4-3-3 or as a number 10, positions that did not suit him and limited his effectiveness. I'd like to think Darren Young will be a bit more thoughtful in how he uses him. I hope he does East Fife a good turn.

It certainly was the way the two commentators were going on about it! I think Stenhousemuir can forget about getting into the top four after this evening. The seven-point gap from Stranraer in fifth place is too much to make up and I do not think this team has the quality or the consistency to come close to overcoming it. Tonight's match was desperately poor but Stirling Albion were the better side throughout, winning their battles and creating more chances. Other than a Botti Biabi cross that Mark McGuigan almost latched onto, I can't remember us fashioning anything worthwhile. We looked stodgy and unimaginative and on the rare occasions we got on the ball, the passing was rushed forward with no thought. I'm not 100 per cent sure what formation we were playing but I don't think it suited us. Was it a 4-3-3? I didn't realise Thomas Collins was playing until he was substituted. I don't know what Tam Muir was red carded for. After the dreck of last season I was hopeful we'd at least put together something worthwhile this year but it's been just as bad.

Interesting to hear this match being described by the match commentators as a derby - I've never thought of Stirling Albion as a rival side! I've always just seen them as a side who play up the road from us.

That's an interesting point about recruitment. Stirling Albion were able to bring in four experienced players on loan from Darvel, some of whom would walk into most part-time sides in Scotland; we've signed up a teenager from Hibernian, a centre-back from Spartans who's never played in the SPFL and a forward from Camelon Juniors we let go as a teenager. We've got a big squad, around 26 or 27, but I'm not 100 per cent sure the quality is there. We will find out tonight!

Why's that? Maybe our chairman advocated one outcome to conclude the season and the manager another?

After Saturday's defeat at Edinburgh City, I'm going into this with low expectations. Lose tonight and we can pretty much write off any hopes we had of finishing in the top four - if you're serious about promotion, you have to beat Edinburgh and Stirling Albion and the like. I'm not sure what changes David Irons will make for this game but Creag Little will probably be suspended after his red card at the weekend, meaning Adam Corbett will return at centre-back; Andy Ryan will fancy his chances against him. Will we persist with the back three or revert to a back four? Will there be any changes made in attack? Who knows! I've already purchased my stream for the game and I'm looking forward to it, weirdly. I watched Stirling Albion's game with Arbroath in the League Cup at the beginning of the season and was impressed by their output, so I imagine it's improved since then. I liked the cut of Ben McAdam's jib. A point's no good to anyone, not in this weird little season, so we need to win it. Here's hoping!

I've met a number of football players and managers in various capacities and all of them have been positive and engaging people (I can't think of one I've met who I've disliked, to be honest) but the one who stands head and shoulders above everyone else is Alloa Athletic captain Andy Graham. He's the most charismatic person I've ever met, an absolute titan, and I can see why everyone talks so highly of him. Thoroughly kind and helpful too.

Hero!

Reassuring to see other people are having the same problems I've experiencing - I've purchased the game and spent the last half hour trying to log in to no avail.

Thank you for the positive report card. I can't see him immediately upsetting the McGuigan-Muir axis in attack but he'll no doubt get a shot at some point soon. The pair run themselves into the ground every game, Muir especially, so it won't be long till Docherty features.

The club have brought in someone called Alan Docherty on loan from Camelon Juniors. He's apparently a forward and was with the club as a teenager. He goes straight into contention for today's match with Edinburgh City. It's not quite a Thomas Reilly or a Dylan Easton but it's another body all the same and he could prove to be useful during this hectic period.

Good afternoon, this is a polite reminder that the penultimate episode of A View from the Terrace is on this evening at 10:30pm on the BBC Scotland channel. I've been told the episode is quite good in places - one section sees "the gang" try to punt players to a fictional non-league football team; another features funny things found on social media - so it might be worth giving a go. I do hope you can make it along tonight!

Adam Corbett was cup-tied on Tuesday night, having played with the Spartans in an earlier round. Even so, Chris Kane looked more assured at the back and I'd like to see him keep his place in the starting XI. As for Biabi and Hopkirk, the pair have done their fair share of defensive work down the flanks, so I can understand the layout above might have been a little misleading, but there's no doubt that they join Muir and McGuigan high up the pitch in trying to press opposition defenders.

This is a very big game tomorrow and if Stenhousemuir are serious about getting into the top four, one they'll need to win. Gary Naysmith has made an impressive start to his management of Edinburgh City and last weekend's victory at Elgin City showed his side are not to be trifled with; the Warriors will really need to step it up if they're to get the better of them. Our best performance of the campaign so far was the 2-0 win over the Citizens was back in November and if we're able to reprise that, we should have a chance. Stenny have been decent since the restart. They were capable against a mediocre Albion Rovers side and did the business without any real flair, and they held Peterhead at arm's length on Tuesday night to progress to the third round of the Scottish Cup. It was hard to tell if they were any good or not that evening (a combination of the Pixellot camera and commentary that was half-a-second or so faster than the gameplay made it a weird experience) but you cannot argue with two wins and two clean sheets. The front four have looked really handy in both games, I'll say that. I'm sure CEMSFC will be along shortly to correct me with player availability etc, but I'd like to think we'll go with the same team that won on Tuesday: - Botti Biabi - Tam Muir - Mark McGuigan - David Hopkirk - - Ryan Blair - Callum Tapping - - Paul Brown - - Chris Kane - Creag Little - Jonathan Tiffoney - - Paddy Martin - I'm not overly convinced with the back three but it seems to have done us a turn so far. No reason as to why we can't win this but it'll be a tough match. Do not give away any corners free-kicks 30 yards from goal and we should be alright. What kind of streaming service do Edinburgh provide? Is it worth buying?

Hard to know exactly what to make of the game - Pixellot is truly wretched and a horrible way to watch a football match - but I didn't think Peterhead were all that bad. A combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping from Paddy Martin kept the Blue Toon at bay, while Stenhousemuir scored from their only real chance of the game, big Mark McGuigan following up on Ryan Blair's shot (I think) after Joshua Rae failed to hold the ball. There was not a lot of quality on show and it was a bit of a scrap. I was impressed with the way Stenhousemuir acquitted themselves, however, and I liked what I've seen from the front four. Tam Muir might not have much of a goal threat but he puts some shift in up top. Must be a nightmare to play against. I am looking forward to playing Kilmarnock in the third round.

Connor Duthie is a right-sided player who can be fielded anywhere down the flank, from full-back to winger and everything in between! He's a frustrating player - when he's galloping forward with the ball, he really is a sight to behold and he's really good at beating a man and taking it up the park, but his final ball can be poor and crosses are mishit or shanked out of play. Good to see him back in business, this must be the first time he'll have kicked a ball in almost two years. I hope he does you a turn!

Looking forward to this! It's been a while since we've played Peterhead but we always seem to have the Indian sign over them, no more so than the 2017/18 season when we inexplicably pipped them to promotion. The Blue Toon always seemed to carry the same group of players for years but other than Simon Ferry and Scott Brown and one or two others, a lot of the names aren't too familiar to me. Stenhousemuir looked alright against Albion Rovers in spells but this will be a far sterner test. There's no reason we cannot win this match but you'd really have to fancy the home side. Now watch this drive.

It is disappointing to read the stream was poor this afternoon. There is still a lot of work for the club to be doing on that front. I think the 2-0 scoreline was reflective of the match. Stenhousemuir were the better side throughout and had more of the play and a greater number of chances, although the quality wasn't often there, which is understandable given the long absence. David Hopkirk looked delighted to be back after his spell out and turned in a man-of-the-match performance; Botti Biabi was an infrequent nuisance down the left and took his goal well, stooping to head home from close range; Mark McGuigan and Tam Muir showed flashes of coherence up front together; and the midfield trio kept the ball well and played some nice passes. Big Mark mentioned in his post-match interview how well young Paul Brown played and I'd certainly agree with him - he swept up well and his passing was short and sharp and always found a man. The only concern I had was with the performance of debutant Adam Corbett. David Cox had him on toast in the first half and forced him into a couple of daft fouls in dangerous places, while some of his headers and clearances went askew. I think he looked a little nervous. I'm not all that sold on this weird 3-5-2 formation - I wonder if we'll revert to a back four once Callum Yeats is fit again. There are some hard games on the horizon and I think we'll need to be better going forward if we're serious about getting into the top four. As for Albion Rovers, they're certainly better than the side we faced at the beginning of the season but they're still not great. The concession of that second goal, just seconds after the interval, was incredible. David Cox looks like a good addition, right enough, and his delivery from set-pieces will cause bother.

Good evening, this is just a polite reminder to say A View from the Terrace is on tonight @ 10:30pm on the BBC Scotland channel. The choicest moments include an interview with Dundee United FC icon Sean Dillon and the second part of the Clydebank documentary. Most important of all, it's back on at its usual time! Which is great news! I hope you can tune in.