Hopkirk blow for Annan
Annan will be without David Hopkirk against Stirling Albion.
The goalscoring midfielder's month-long loan deal from Queen of the South has expired and he has returned to Palmerston.
The Galabank outfit could be short on numbers as injuries have ruled out Steven Swinglehurst, Greg Thorburn, Steven Sloan, David Murray and Graeme Bell, with John Watson a major doubt as well.
Manager Harry Cairney said: "David had been outstanding for us and scored five times in our last two games but someone else will now get the chance to get goals from midfield.
"We have had three solid performances in a row with draws at Queen's Park and Elgin as well as a 5-2 win over East Stirling. Our plan has to be to build on that."
Striker Steven Weir is available after a two-game ban as Stirling attempt to repeat their 5-1 opening day success over Annan.
However, manager Greig McDonald is likely to be missing Danny Ashe, Kieran McAnespie, Ross McGeachie and Bradley Coyne due to injury.
Player/coach Marc McCulloch is expected to be pressed into action as a result despite not being fully fit.
McDonald said: "We were poor last week against Deveronvale in the Scottish Cup in terms of getting efforts in on goal and hopefully that will change against Annan.
"We started the season with a good win over them and a repeat of that would be great. We are certainly capable of getting a good result at Galabank."
Source: PA
