October 5th 2026
It is hard to believe that we are over a quarter of the way through the season already and we have only just started September.
It has been a tough start with an intense run of fixtures and our squad has been hit hard with injuries, all bar one of which have been impact injuries, which are really unavoidable. We were down as low as 12 players from a squad of 22 for a game at one point and even the players you have seen out there on the pitch have been playing through knocks and fatigue just to make sure we have been able to put a team out.
It is not just the unavailable players we have missed – the knock-on effect of being so low on numbers has meant that when we would otherwise have liked to substitute a player to rest them up for the next game, we haven’t been able to, so we have had to ask the players to cover in excess of 12K in a game for some of them and then do the same again three days later such has been the volume of matches. I think they deserve huge credit for that and for being able to go again with such a quick turnaround over and over.
It is at this stage I would like to pay tribute to our physio, Greig Smith, who has had his hands full this season with the players who have been out injured and being able to get those who are available ready to perform at their best. Greig is great at what he does and I can tell you first hand that he must have secret healing powers! The work he does helps us to get players back far quicker than we might have expected and has been a huge support through this challenging month in particular, where we have had so many absences.
I think we have had a positive spell in all of the matches so far – even the Fraserburgh game where the outcome was totally unacceptable, I felt we matched them for the first half-an-hour. In the rest of the games, I feel we have contributed far more and have looked like scoring when we go forward, which was an area I wanted to improve on as too many teams kept clean sheets against us last season. We are over a quarter of the way through our matches and every one of them has been against a team who finished above us in the league last season while all of our away games have been against teams who will want to win the league this season, so it has been a tough run. That will continue on Wednesday away to Wick which is always a difficult venue, particularly midweek when the players will have to get time off work and will not get home until after 1.00 am the next day.
I have been emphasising to the players that we really want to make Station Park a tough venue for opposing teams. We only won five home games last season but this year our target is to be really strong at home and to pick up as many points as we can. But we will need all your support at games to be able to achieve that. I have been pleased with the three wins we have had at home already, although I feel we maybe could have won some of the other home games too.
In the Scottish Cup, we have a trip into the unknown down to Berwick Rangers at the end of the month. We will prepare as best we can for the tie although we know right away it is going to be a difficult game because of the quality in the Lowland League across the board. It has been encouraging to hear that the supporters’ bus is filling up and hopefully the fans are able to turn up in good numbers to support the team despite the lengthy trip for the game.
We will be losing Sam Gordon from the squad next week as he embarks upon his travels. When he let us know in the close season, he said it would be very much open ended but when or if he returns, we will catch up with him then to see what he thinks about resuming his playing career with us. It goes without saying that we all wish Sammy well for the future and thank him for all he has done for the club.
We were only able to train twice from the opening day of the season up to the seventh game in and although we play this Wednesday, it will be good to get back to a regular routine of being on the training pitch with the players twice per week with a game on a Saturday to look forward to. It has been a really intense period for us all but I can certainly say I have learned a lot about the playing squad and the demands of the job. I am lucky to have such an excellent management team around me – the support from them has been invaluable and we have already started to look at our plans for next season.
We have had good attendances at our games and it is always good to see a big crowd out to support the players. We will always look to go out and win no matter who the opposition is and try to play with a bit of style as well. Thank you for all of your support so far and I look forward to the next part of the season.
WAYNE MACKINTOSH
Manager
Nairn County Football Club
