Sons v Stenny Saturday 5th October

[O'Kelly Isley III]

We extend a warm welcome to Gregor Wedderburn and his pals from Ochilview in the next instalment of our jousts of recent seasons.

Dumbarton fans should please note that references to 'must win game' will immediately be reported to the Mods, and likewise Warriors supporters should desist from the phrase 'injury hit'.

Enjoy the game folks.

[Francesc Fabregas]

I'm looking forward to this one. Our matches against Dumbarton last season were terrific fun and I'm expecting more of the same here. There's a curious wrinkle here that the only team yet to win a game is taking on the only team yet to score away from home, and that pesky law of averages says something has to give. For all Stenhousemuir's travails on the road this season, this is perhaps the most presentable opportunity to pick up a victory; the Sons will probably say the same thing in relation to their own issues.

Mark Durnan, red carded last weekend, will be suspended here and I'm keen to see what Stevie Farrell does to compensate. Mikey Miller, Aron Lynas and Cammy Clark all have their qualities but I'd fancy Matty Aitken to noise up a makeshift defence. Will Farrell play it conservative to make up for Durnan's absence? Or will he see this as a very doable fixture and give it a go? Elsewhere, it'll be interesting to see how Finlay Gray and Mouhamed Niang line up against Mikey Anderson and Nat Wedderburn, and how the Stenny backline contains Michael Ruth.

Ross Taylor, Aaron Steele, Nicky Jamieson and Corey O'Donnell are likely to miss out but Euan O'Reilly, introduced midway through last week's game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, should be in contention to start. I wonder if Gary Naysmith will dispense with the five-at-the-back system we saw in the Highlands and revert to his regular 4-2-3-1 formation. I think it's likely to be the latter, given the level of opposition. How about:

- Matty Aitken -

- Euan O'Reilly - Blair Alston - Matty Yates -

- Nat Wedderburn - Mikey Anderson -

- Kinlay Bilham - Kyle Banner - Gregor Buchahan - Ross Meechan -

- Darren Jamieson -

If Stenhousemuir can win here, it would cap off an excellent first quarter, but Dumbarton should be looking at this match as a means to "kickstart the season". Either way, it'll be class. I'll see you there!