Three is a magic number!

The Galabankies followed up their away victory over Kelty Hearts with a battling win over basement boys Dumbarton. Now they travel to in-form Cove Rangers, hoping for a repeat of their previous encounter at Balmoral Stadium where Annan toppled their opponents in style. But Gibson has warned his players they are up against a confident Paul Hartley side. He said: “The motivation is to stay in the league and pick up as many points as we can. “We know it’s going to be difficult, Cove are sitting top of the form table from the last six games. But we’re also on a decent run ourselves. “Going up there we’ll look to take something back down the road. It would be brilliant to bring three but we are well aware of how they are going lately. “They had a tough game on Tuesday night against Montrose and don’t have the biggest squad. But I’m sure they’ll want revenge for our victory up there earlier in the season.” Annan eased any concerns of finishing bottom of the League One pile this season with the win over the Sons last time out. And Gibson proved to be the match winner with a calm and composed finish from the penalty spot. [caption id="attachment_57151" align="alignnone" width="680"]

SPOT ON . . . Gibson nets penalty winner[/caption] However, the gaffer believes his troops didn’t fire on all cylinders in that battle, but that’s what made the victory that much sweeter. He said: “We’re really pleased with the Dumbarton win, especially after beating Kelty away from home. It was important to follow that up and we did. “The performances have been really good lately but to be honest I felt we’ve played better and lost games. “It’s quite good to pick up the three points even when we weren’t at our best.” Meanwhile, Killie loanee Aaron Brown is due back in training this week after missing out last time with an Achilles issue. Furthermore, Gibson confirmed that Tommy Goss has started his rehab but doesn’t think the striker will be back this season. He added: “I would be surprised. It’s important for Tommy to go through the rehab at his own pace. If we brought him back too early and had any complications then we’re back to square one. We’ve got to give him that time to recover. “I think this shows how important the fundraiser was because what’s needed done has happened quicker and hopefully he’ll be back for the start of next season.”