COWDENBEATH can move into the top five of Ladbrokes League 2 if they win at Elgin on Saturday.

The solid win over Berwick Rangers ended their little bad run of successive defeats and now they sit on 22 points from 18 games, so at the half way point things are looking pretty decent for Cowden.

Elgin are just three above them and if Cowdenbeath can beat the Highlanders at the weekend their far superior goal difference will take them into the top half for the first time this season, and within striking distance of the top four.

Cowden boss Gary Bollan was fairly happy with the first half of the campaign when he reflected on the win and season after Saturday’s game.

He said: “I felt the lads fully deserved the three points for we created an awful lot of chances.

“OK we had some bad misses but we must have created at least six really good openings and we defended well to limit their chances.

“Indeed, we defended well as a team and that was the encouraging thing from my point of view.”

Cowdenbeath were without Robbie Deas, who lost his appeal against his red card at Stirling, but Jamie Pyper slotted in well beside David Marsh.

Marsh is suspended against Elgin, but Deas is now available again as his red card was for a last man offence not serious foul play, so he will be available for the trip to the Highlands.

The manager is more than hopeful of going north and coming back with points.

He added: “We have not had a good record against Elgin home or away over the past few seasons so this will be a test.

“But if we show the same application and team work at Boroughbriggs, as against Berwick, we can get the result we want.

“Our attacking play was a joy to watch against Berwick Rangers with our midfield and attack combining well to carve out a whole series of openings.

“David Cox and Kris Renton have been in great form and with Jordan Allan’s pace we can pose real problems for any team in this division.

“To get to the half way stage on 22 points is OK, but in these 18 games there have been more than a few points squandered, but the thing is that the team had shown a real improvement on last season and we want to keep that going in the second half of the season.

“If we can do that we can maybe be in with a chance of putting pressure on the top four sides.”

The manager is looking to freshen up his squad while the January transfer window is open. He has lost Josh Skelly back to Montrose but Robbie Deas is set to sign for the rest of the season on loan from Celtic.

He concluded: “We need to get a couple of guys in who can bolster the squad for the second half of the league programme and we have a few players in mind who can strengthen our ranks.”