Irvine Meadow manager Brian McGinty insists loaning Shaun Newman to Championship strugglers Craigmark is purely down to getting the goalkeeper match fit again.
Newman dislocated his finger in October and hasn't featured since although he returned to training a couple of weeks ago.
Former Brechin City keeper Paddy O'Neil was brought in to fill the void and has impressed with a string of fine performances.
McGinty reckons it make sense to send Newman out on loan until the end of March but the decision has been met with dismay by some supporters.
McGinty said: "Shaun's trained well for a couple of weeks now but needs to go out and get match sharp.
"We are too light in numbers to be taking friendlies and Paddy has been excellent after a shaky start.
