PRO punter Dino Vita (@VitaDino) takes us through his best bets for Scotland's bottom tier.
Scottish League 2 | 8th August 2015
Scotland's League 2 is the hardest of the four leagues to decide this season and I think any one of five sides could claim the crown come next spring.
The bookmakers have Clyde as favourites and I can't disagree with that. The Bully Wee got off to a bad start last season under novice manager Barry Ferguson and that cost them dear with them playing catch up for most of the second half of the campaign.
They did flourish in the second half of the season though and have only lost five games in 2015 so far. Over the summer they've signed a whole host of new players from higher divisions. These include Chris Mitchell, Sean Higgins, Scott Linton, Archie Campbell and John Gibson who were all plying their trade in the Championship last season. For me, they have big claims to end the season in top spot.
Stirling Albion were relegated from League 1 last season after an horrific time that saw them pick up just four wins out of 36 in the third tier. They'll be hoping to bounce straight back but losing their top scorer Gordon Smith to Dumbarton will be a big loss. However they have recruited over the summer and I think they have a decent shout of getting back up.
Third favourites Arbroath looked like champions last season until an incredible collapse in the second half of the season, they ended up in the play-offs despite setting the pace and somewhat predictably lost in the semi final to Queens Park. On top of that disappointment they've lost the services of their top goalscorer Simon Murray to Dundee United. They have kept the bulk of last season's squad and may use the acute pain of 2014/15 to help fire their challenge this time round.
For me East Fife are the dark horses of the league, they put an excellent run together at the end of the season to make it into the post-season play-offs and they'll be eager to carry that form into the new campaign. I think with that momentum behind them they will be Clyde's biggest challengers for automatic promotion.
Queens Park had an excellent season last year finishing second in the table but I feel they're unlikely to repeat those heroics in 2015/16. They lost in the play-off final last season to Stenhousemuir and that must have been tough on the young squad that Gus McPherson manages. These lads are talented and my biggest worry if I was a Spiders fan would be seeing their squad getting picked off by bigger clubs A play-off place will be their ceiling aim this year.
At the wrong end of the table I think we'll see a repeat of last season with Montrose in the thick of things fighting it out to avoid the Pyramid Play-Off against the top non-league side. Montrose finished bottom last season 10 points adrift and I anticipate another struggle of a season for them.
East Stirling finished second bottom last season but for me are a class up from The Gable Endies and I expect they'll be looking upwards towards a play-off place.
Best Bets
Scottish League 2 – Clyde to win Scottish League 2 (11/4 Ladbrokes)
Scottish League 2 – East Fife to win Scottish League 2 (6/1 Ladbrokes)
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