DESPITE only two defeats in their opening six league games, Peebles Rovers currently sit third bottom of the table with four points. 

But their next two games are against the teams beneath them.

Rovers travel to Midlothian on Saturday to face second-bottom Ormiston Primrose then the following week are at home to basement side Hawick Royal Albert.

This will be Rovers’ second visit to Ormiston this season having lost on penalties last month despite dominating much of the 120 minutes.

Peebles manager Ger Rossi said: “I think the next two games will define where we are so far but Ormiston and Hawick are probably thinking that a win against us could kickstart their seasons.

“But we are not thinking about Hawick right now as our full focus is on Ormiston and we are going into the game in a positive frame of mind. 

“We played them in a cup game a couple of months ago and although we lost on penalties, I thought we dominated the match. 

“If you look at the table you would probably think we’ve had a poor start but we’ve been really close in every game we’ve played and we’ve had a lot of draws, which has been a source of frustration.

“It’s maybe just a case of a wee bit of lack of belief in front of goal.
“We just need to get that elusive three points.

“We showed against Whitburn that we can perform against teams at the top of the league so it’s just about making sure that we play to the same standard on Saturday.”

Rovers go into the game without the influential Michael Joyce who was shown a red card against Whitburn and also skipper Ross Lamb who only returned to the team for that game following an injury.

Rossi continued: “It’s frustrating to be without Michael and Ross and a couple of others due to injury but I’ve told the boys that they are all part of the squad and it gives others who deserve the chance to step up and show what they can do.”