Speaking of relegation, Forfar Athletic, whose pre-season hopes would have been for at least a top-half finish, have been dragged into the mire following some truly pathetic recent results. Manager Ray Stewart was sacked following the 5-1 home reversal from Montrose in the Cup last week; a 1-0 reversal at Berwick Rangers soon followed. Today, under the stewardship of temporary boss Ian Miller, the Loons travel to Stair Park to face high-flying Stranraer. With Forfar missing Steven Florence, Hugh Davidson, David King and the indispensable Paul Tosh through injury, Stranraer will be looking to increase their lead at the top of the table with a convincing victory today.
Two other teams will meet in a more closely-matched fixture today: Stirling Albion and Dumbarton have both suffered consistency issues of late, with neither being able to capitalise on last season's successes or good starts to the season.
Finally, game of the day is unquestionably Brechin City vs. Ayr United. The Honest Men go into today's game seeing it as the beginning of a gruelling winter period, in which they face three of the league's top teams in the next four weeks, meanwhile Brechin City will seek to build on last week's defeat of Morton and further cement their title credentials. Ayr are suffering from injuries, with Doyle, Burgess and Brown all out, but team spirit appears high as they seek to deliver to Brechin only their second home defeat of the season.