Carluke Rovers boss Mark Weir says injuries and suspensions cost his side dearly as they went down 2-1 at Greenock on Saturday.
But Weir reckons three points against Kello Rovers on Saturday will mean he can start putting plans into place for next season.
Rovers sit mid-table in West League One, despite the defeat, but Weir wants them to finish as high up the table as they can.
Greenock scored both their goals inside the opening 21 minutes, with a Sean Doherty cross headed in by Jamie Black in eight minutes, and keeper Martin Johnson could only parry a powerful shot into the path of Jamie Cunningham, who drilled into the corner.
Greenock’s Craig Brown sent a shot over the bar when it looked easier to score in 61 minutes, and two minutes later Rovers pulled a goal back when a James Frame corner was headed into his own net by Black.
Weir said: “Conditions were again horrendous and we were the only teams playing in the league.
“It was a game of two halves, and again an error from us led to their second goal.
“There was an improvement in the second half, I was a lot happier, but we were up against it probably from the start.
“It doesn’t help when you have three or four key players missing through injury and suspension.
“Dougie Frame was suspended, Jordan Lithgow was injured, and I had to put Mark Cassidy on the bench, even though he was probably only about 60 per cent fit.
“I had to bring him on quite early on for Greg Kane, who wasn’t 100 per cent and was feeling ill.
“It’s not an excuse, but having key guys like that out doesn’t help matters.
“I was just saying last week that I finally had a squad to choose from and could tinker with it, and then you get a suspension and slight knocks, so you’re back to square one again.”
Weir hopes to have all four back for the trip to Kello, and says three points would make a big difference.
He said: “I think we’re safe, regardless, because there are some teams round about us who have some games in hand. They all play against each other, but we still want to get as many points as we can.
“What I want to happen is for us to get back to doing what we’re good at, and for the last couple of weeks we haven’t been doing that.”
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