Defiant Cove Rangers captain Michael Doyle aiming to finish season with a flourish

Cove Rangers captain Michael Doyle insists it is how you finish the season that matters and he is determined to prove it.

Cove picked up another point as they continue to make progress up the League One table following a goalless draw with title favourites Caley Thistle at Balmoral Stadium.

An injury-blighted campaign has left Cove with it all to do in the second half of the campaign, but Doyle is confident his side can still have a good season if they can stay injury-free.

He said: “I’ve been in this league a couple of times, through these leagues I know that it’s not about how you start the season, it’s about how you finish.

“That just shows where we are right now. We’ve got another couple of players to come back as well, just adding that bit of experience.

“Momentum is massive in this league. You can do it at the start of the season and then taper out towards the end, or you can do it the way we’ve decided to do it, just wait until January and then go on a wee run. Hopefully that continues.

“I’ve been saying all season, we’ve been through a bad run, but once we’ve got all our players back fit, we can compete with anybody.”

Doyle hasn’t known a season like this one in his career

Doyle is one of the most experienced players in the Cove squad but the defender struggles to recall a season like the one his club has had as injuries have crippled Paul Hartley’s side.

But the 34-year-old is relishing the challenge of pushing back into the middle of League One now they are welcoming their key players back.

He said: “I was out for seven weeks and last year I played 49 games in a row, every minute of every game. These wee things happen and it’s just luck, sometimes luck comes into it.

“I remember one of the games we were playing here and there were seven of us sitting in the stand and it was the seven most experienced players.

“It’s hard for any team in that situation. If you’re not somebody that follows Cove, you’re just looking at results and going ‘there’s Cove getting beat again.’

“I always knew that when everybody comes back fit and everybody’s competing, that we’ll do really well.

“Even against Caley Thistle we had Fraser Fyvie coming back and we’ve not seen Fyvie all season.

“He adds such great experience in technique and ability and things like that.

“That’s him just coming on for a couple of minutes there, so that’s where we’re going at the moment.”

Doyle hails McAllister’s bravery

Saturday’s goalless draw with Caley Jags was almost a home win for Hartley’s side as they had the chance to win the game after being awarded a penalty in stoppage time.

However, Ross Munro made a fine save to keep out Cove attacker Reuben McAllister’s penalty to earn his side a point.

Doyle said: “It’s hard going in after the game when right at the death we’ve had a chance to win it.

“I think if you had just turned up for this game you wouldn’t have been able to tell you who was at the top of the league and who was at the bottom of the league.

“We’ve obviously had that wee chance at the end that we didn’t score. Reuben’s a wee bit hard on himself, but he’s a young kid and he steps up to hit it. For me that just shows courage.

“We can work on that. That’s where we are right now, two clean sheets in a row, which is positive. We’re just building on it.”

[Source: Press and Journal]