Forfar must maintain high standards

Athletic remain on an upward curve in their League One campaign, beating Annan Athletic 2-0 at Station Park on Saturday.

It was a win which reinforced Forfar’s place inside the division’s top four, Irvine’s men nine points behind leaders Kelty Hearts in third.

Goals either side of half-time from Andy Munro and Stefan McCluskey sealed the weekend win.

“It sounds good when you see that we won 2-0 and kept a clean sheet at home,” said Irvine post match to the club’s website.

“The most important thing is always picking up the three points. But I have to be honest, it wasn’t pretty, especially in the first-half. We’ve definitely played better than this so far this season."

Attention now turns to the weekend’s Scottish Cup second round tie against Formartine, a club who Forfar beat 1-0 in the Challenge Cup at the start of the season.

Irvine knows his squad must be at their best again to advance into the next round draw.

“We’ve played them already this season,” he said.

“So we’ve had a wee look at them.

"We know the way they play, so we’ll have ideas going into this one.

"It’s a cup-tie and we’ll be treating it with all the professionalism we bring to league games.

"We’ll prepare the boys properly and look to progress. The cup games are important. And we will go there with a bit of momentum.”