ARTHURLIE manager Duncan Sinclair hopes his players can silence their critics this weekend when they face Rutherglen Glencairn.

Lie currently occupy third place in the Championship but have failed to beat any of the current top five.

And Sinclair says that is a statistic that will motivate his side this weekend when they face the club who currently sit in second place. 

He said: “People are saying we’ve not played anyone up the top or beaten anyone in the top 5 so we’re keen as mustard to get that monkey off our back.

“They’re saying we’re not doing it against the big boys and we’ve got an opportunity to address that this weekend.

“It spurs us on and I keep saying it to the players. 

“Saturday will give us a good indication of where we are as a team.”

Arthurlie’s game at the weekend against Darvel at Recreation Park was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch and Sinclair was left frustrated once again. 

It was his side’s second game postponed in as many weeks and has meant that they have not been able to build on their terrific result on their last outing, where they beat Dalry Thistle 8-1.

In fact Lie have not lost since the beginning of November, a 2-0 defeat to Cumbernauld, but have only played half-a-dozen times in the league since then.

They’ve scored a staggering 25 times in the six games and it’s form that Sinclair is keen to take into this weekend. 

He said: “After our performance against Dalry we wanted to kick on.

“From now on we’re going to be playing teams around about us.

“We still managed to get a session in on Saturday where we just let the boys play football for an hour and a half then sent them up the road. 

“It kept them ticking over. It was a good session.

“The boys work really hard and have bought into our ideas and ethos.

“The fitness levels are fantastic and we’ve got a good mix of youth and experience in the squad.

“It all bodes well for the future but for now we’re taking it one game at a time.”

Saturday’s opponents, Rutherglen Glencairn, haven’t played in the league in over a month with their last game coming back at the start of January.

The Glens, who boast former Celtic youth player Liam Gormley and ex-Arthurlie midfielder Ryan McArdle in their side, have still featured in cup competitions but Sinclair doesn’t think that match sharpness will be a factor for their opponents on Saturday. 

He said: “I’ve got no doubt that Willie [Harvey] will have had them playing friendlies and keeping sharp.

“They’re a good team with good players. We just want to get on the park and earn some points.”

Kick off at Dunterlie Park is at 2pm on Saturday.