Edinburgh University boss Dorian Ogunro admits his side are in deep trouble

The East Peffermill outfit have won just twice in 23 league fixtures and currently occupy second from bottom, just two points better off than Dalbeattie Star, who have won just once. League newcomers Cowdenbeath, who are 17th, have a 12-point advantage over Ogunro's men and have played two games fewer.

The club that finishes at the foot of the table will automatically be relegated to the East or South of Scotland League. Meanwhile, the second bottom side's fate will be sealed depending on the outcome of the promotion play-offs.

Edinburgh Uni, who host Capital rivals Civil Service Strollers this weekend, have been a mainstay of Scottish football's fifth tier since its inception in 2013. However, their ten years in the league is now under serious threat.

"I can hold my hand up and say we haven't been good enough, "Ogunro admitted to the Evening News. "We're in a relegation battle, there's no two ways about it. We just have to grind out and try and find a way.

"Looking at the bigger picture, we, as a club, haven't managed the expectations that being part of this set-up entails. We're still trying to solve the problems we were ten years ago, which ultimately holds us back. We are a student club and the complete opposite to Stirling. They have bursaries, scholarships, better commitments and standards so there's a whole package of stuff. I think a lot of people think we're the same but that couldn't be further from the truth.

"Over Christmas we had loads of boys go home and they still aren't back. I've been missing 12 bodies where eight or nine of them would have been starting. We shoot ourselves in the foot to be honest. There's not a team in the league that could handle that, but that's nobody else's fault but our own.

"The strength of the Lowland League now from when it first started is on another level. If you look at the teams that have come down from League Two, East Stirlingshire, Berwick Rangers and Cowdenbeath, none of them have even had a sniff of going back up."