Clyde midfielder Scott Linton has vowed to go all out to honour the memory of former teammate Chris Mitchell by winning promotion to League One.

The Clyde players received the news that Mitchell – who played for the club in the first half of this season – had died at the age of just 27 as they travelled back from their playoff semi-final second-leg at Elgin on Saturday.

Despite their profound shock, Linton says that the Clyde squad are determined to put on a performance against Queen’s Park at Broadwood tonight that will be a fitting tribute to Mitchell.

“Chris played with us until January and was a big part of the squad,” Linton said. “He was a great guy and everybody is deeply upset and saddened by what has happened to him.

“He’ll be at the forefront of our minds when we go out there this week, and we’ll definitely be trying to do it for him.

“He was a big loss when he left in January. He was deadly from set-pieces and was a very good right-back. He was brilliant for us and it was a shame to lose him when we did.

“With the way things have went, it’s just been awful. We’re going to try and use it in a positive way and create a bit of unity in the squad, and we really want to do it for him.”

If Clyde are to see of the Spiders, they could do with another goal or two from Linton, who is in the midst of the best scoring run of his career.

After netting in both legs of the win over Elgin, the midfielder took his tally to 12 for the season. He credits manager Barry Ferguson for giving him the freedom to get into positions where he can hurt the opposition.

“It’s always great to get on the scoresheet,” he said. “When I was at Cowdenbeath I think I got 12 in six seasons, and now I’ve got 12 already this season, so it’s something I’m not used to!

“It’s been great, and I’m going to keep trying to get into the right positions to score as many as I can.

“A big part of it has been the fact I’m on the penalties too – I’ve scored six – but the manager has given me freedom to get further forward too.

“He wants us to get forward and attack, and I’ve not had that free rein at other clubs I’ve been at.

“I’ve been urged to get into attacking positions and it’s paid off this season.

“The most important thing is that we win the final though, whether I score or not doesn’t really matter.”

Their opponents for a place in League One have been something of a bogey side for the Bully Wee this season, with three wins for Gus MacPherson’s side and a draw in the four meetings so far.

Linton though is banking on the confidence from Clyde’s current run of three wins on the bounce to carry them through.

“Of course we are wary of them, they beat Cowdenbeath who were a League One side, so we know what they are capable of and what they are about,” he said.

“We haven’t done well against them this season, they are a stuffy outfit and it’s going to be two really difficult games.

“But, we’re going into it with confidence. We’ve won our last three games, so although it will be tight, hopefully we can get the upper hand and we’ll be the team that earns promotion.

“We’re playing with confidence, we’re scoring goals and I think everybody is in a good place. We hope to be able to continue that in these games.

“If you don’t want to go out at Hampden in a final essentially to gain promotion, then I don’t know what would motivate you.

“Hopefully when we get to Saturday we can have an advantage and then go and get the job done.”