East Kilbride Thistle caretaker boss Alan Paterson will shake up his team for Saturday’s South Challenge Cup tie against Newton Stewart after “throwing away” three points against Larkhall Thistle.
Paterson was pleased with his side’s midweek display as they “went toe-to-toe” with Petershill despite losing 2-1, but says they just didn’t show up as Larkhall won Saturday’s West of Scotland Conference C clash 3-2.
Frustrated Paterson says Thistle were below par and conceded cheap goals to a ‘ruthless’ Larkhall side, in a situation where a win could have propelled them up the table.
So Paterson says fringe players who haven’t had much game-time will be given a chance to show what they can do in Saturday’s second round tie.
He said: “We got beat off Petershill during the week and we were really good.
“They’re one of the best sides and they had loads of compliments, but then we turned up on Saturday and from the first minute we were terrible.
“I still think we should have taken something from the game, but we were so below-par it was unbelievable.
“Every since we’ve come in their attitude has been spot-on and they’ve been right at it, but on Saturday I couldn’t pinpoint why we were as poor as what we were.
“We lost cheap, lazy goals and even when we pulled it back to 2-2 after being 2-0 down, we missed chance after chance.
“It’s not as if you could label it on one player, I was really frustrated, because I know those boys are miles better than what they showed on Saturday.
“I felt there were three points there for the taking – and fair play to Larkhall, I think they had three shots on target, they were ruthless.
“It was a very bad day at the office, in my honest opinion
“We’ll play worse and win a game, but it was three points lost, and those are the games we really need to win.
“On Saturday I think if we had won we would have moved up three or four places, so it was pretty poor.”
Paterson admits he doesn’t know much about opponents Newton Stewart, but says it’s about how they prepare for the game.
He said: “We’ll get a chance to try players who have maybe not had games, because we have been on a wee winning run and the team has stayed the same.
“We have the chance to shake it up, make some changes, give guys games and see what happens.
“There might be someone on the bench that can come in and take somebody’s place and see how it goes.
“But the cups are a bonus for us, the league is where we want to be and where we want to stay.
“Anything we do in the cup is an achievement, but the league is our bread and butter.”
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
