MUCH as Greenock will be looking for the three points when Neilston come to Ravenscraig tomorrow, they will equally be looking to get through the game without the controversy which has dogged the club in its last three games.

Six red cards have been brandished at Greenock players in those matches, culminating in last week’s brawl at Ardeer which saw Barri Stanton, Allan Docherty and David McGarrigle dismissed, along with two players from the home side amid some unsavoury scenes.

However, despite reports elsewhere, the match will not be subject to a special investigation by SJFA bosses.

West Region secretary Scott Robertson told the Tele: “It has to be said that going by the referee’s report, what happened at Ardeer was a disgrace.

“But the standard disciplinary sanctions will be applied to the offending players as a matter of course, unless any of them submit an appeal.” Whilst that will be a relief to Greenock, it means an already depleted squad will be further hampered by three-match bans for last week’s red-carded trio, starting tomorrow.

With the exception of a month or so of relative calm, the ‘Nock have been struggling with disciplinary issues for much of this season, and it’s known that the committee expressed its dissatisfaction to manager Martin Campbell earlier in the campaign.

This week, club officials were staying tight-lipped on the matter, and Campbell is equally keen to put it to bed.

He said: “The boys were full of apologies at training on Monday night, but I don’t really want to go on and on about it. We just want to put it behind us and get on with playing football.” After a difficult opening schedule to the season, during which the Ravenscraig men were pitted against most of the leading promotion contenders, the past month has seen them face sides in the lower half of the league table.

That continues tomorrow, with struggling Neilston the visitors.

Newly-promoted after winning the Central League First Division title last season, the Renfrewshire club have been finding life difficult in the Super League set-up.

Just one win in nine games sees them in second bottom spot with a meagre six points, but with Greenock only having taken one point from matches at Ravenscraig against equally lowly Largs and Thorniewood, Campbell is aware that no match is a gimme in this division.

He said: “With us not having faced Neilston for a while, I don’t really know that much about how they are at the moment, but it appears that although they are struggling a bit, no-one has really turned them over, apart from when they lost 7-3 at Cumbernauld two months ago. So, just like most weeks in this league, we expect another tough challenge tomorrow.” With three of his regular starters out through suspension, the last thing Campbell needed was to hear of an injury which looks set to rule Mark Downie out for a few weeks. The midfielder had been complaining of neck pain lately, and a check up at hospital has revealed a slipped disc, with medics advising rest.

But on the plus side, Martin Dow could make a welcome return.

Dow’s move to Shetland for work reasons saw him released by Greenock, but now that he is available again he could appear on tomorrow’s team-lines as a trialist.

The long-term injured duo of Ryan Begley and Neil Docherty could also be listed, but their participation will only be as a last resort, with the club preferring to give them some game time in a bounce match before launching them back into the real thing.

Meanwhile, Campbell has revealed the reason behind his side managing to overturn a 3-2 deficit last week, and going on to win 5-3 with just eight men.

He said: “At training we do a lot of work at concentrating on keeping the ball, and that’s what helped us at Ardeer and didn’t allow them to over-run us with their man advantage.

“But it would be nice to do it with 11 men on the park.” Fans should note that kick-off times are now back to 1.45pm.

Greenock Juniors are sponsored by SAVEHEAT, and the Lighthouse Bar. Tomorrow’s match is being sponsored by the Greenock Dock Workers Club, to whom the club expresses its appreciation for having been a sponsor of Greenock Juniors for the last three decades.