SO the phoney war is over and Cowdenbeath have now to concentrate on accumulating league points, starting with game one at Elgin this Saturday.

The Blue Brazil struggled from the start of last season to win games regularly and that was why they found themselves in the bottom reaches of Ladbrokes League 2.

It is important that they start positively up in the Highlands, where last season they collected one point in the last fixture of the season.

Elgin lost all of their Betfred Cup matches so they have not had a good start and their confidence will not be high.

Cowdenbeath have to go their with the intention of heading south with all three points.

The Blues are still short on players though. Shaun Rutherford had to leave the field at Kirkcaldy with an injury and he will be doubtful for the trip to Elgin while midfielder Jack Whittaker is still recovering from a broken bone in a foot. When you add to that 'keeper Dave McGurn carrying a calf knock they could be better prepared for this game.

However, manager Billy Brown is working hard at trying to bring in some players before this weekend’s game.

He said: “Shaun took a hard knock against Raith and he will be touch and go.

“Dave McGurn may make it and obviously Jack is out for a few weeks yet.

“We need to bolster the squad and I will be working hard this week to get a couple of players at least on board.

“We want to start the season well but we know that Elgin will have the same idea so we will have to defend well and take our chances.

“If we can get in front it makes a difference so that has to be our target.”

The manager is also hoping to bring at least a couple of loan players in but the Premiership sides do not normally identify who they are going to send out on deals until this week so it could be that it will be Thursday before anyone appears from that source.

Mr Brown viewed the Betfred Cup competition as coming too early for Cowden and other part-time sides: “We did not play at all in the first-half against Rovers and conceded an early goal, something we simply have to avoid doing at Elgin.

“All in all the games against the two Dundee sides were very difficult for us at this stage of the season but in real terms the league is the important thing for us for we want to do a lot better than last season.”