Albion Rovers boss Brian Reid says tomorrow's NL Cup third-place play-off clash with Cumbernauld Colts is going to be about managing his players, and avoiding costly injuries.
Reid was initially pleased with the prospect of the weekend tournament at Broadwood, but a 3-1 defeat to Clyde and Lewis Wilson going off with an injury have coloured his mood towards tomorrow's action.
The Cliftonhill gaffer says he was never concerned about results at this stage in pre-season, but want to make sure he has as strong a squad as possible before clashing with Ayr United in the Premier Sports Cup on Saturday.
He said: "In the first half I felt we held our own, but I'm not naive enough to think that pre-season games are the be-all and end-all.
"That's our first game, it's a new team almost, and a lot of players are just getting their touch back, their fitness back, or their match-fitness back, so I don't read too much into that.
"The only thing I'm concerned about is getting match fitness, and getting up to speed, in terms of when the serious stuff starts.
"It's another game tomorrow. Unfortunately for a lot of our boys they have to go again, even if it's only for 60 minutes, so we've just got to be careful.
"Lewis Wilson went off and the last thing you need is players going off with strains, because we've got a small enough squad as it is.
"The last thing we need is players missing when the competitive games start.
"It's never ideal to play two games in as many days, it would maybe have been better to have a day or two between, but it is what it is, and we knew that going into the tournament.
"That's maybe OK if you have a 25-man squad, you can change almost two different teams, but Albion Rovers don't have that, so we need to be careful in what we're doing with the players and try to manage them through it."
Reid said there wasn't much in the game, but key decisions went against his side.
"For me it was a soft penalty," he said.
"I think that was Clyde's second or third game and that was our first, so you're obviously going to get a bit of rustiness, which is expected, and I was more concerned with how our fitness looked.
"I thought we looked fit and strong, and we held our own. We had a few chances of our own in the first half and they got a soft penalty, then we got back into it at 1-1.
"We both made a lot of changes, so the game breaks down in terms of rhythm a wee bit, but I felt the second free kick at the edge of the box was never a free kick.
"The referee said he wasn't sure about that one but he seemed to give them a few decisions in the last third, and they scored from one, unfortunately.
"It was a good work out for us in terms of fitness, and we gave some young boys a chance as well, and some trialists, so overall it was a good work-out."
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