Caledonian Braves boss Ricky Waddell made some bold changes in their 3-3 draw with Rangers ‘B’ on Saturday, but got the reaction he was looking for.
While 3-0 down, keeper Chris Hendry was replaced by Grant Thackeray, captain Ross Lindsay swapped with Jamie Watson and Matthew Collins later came on for Cameron Breadner.
That had the desired effect, with Watson, Marc Kelly and Scott Cusick scoring to earn an unlikely Lowland League point against a Gers side that featured first-team star Alex Lowry on his comeback from injury and Charlie McCann.
Waddell, a former coach with the Ibrox club, said: “You can’t not be pleased with a point after being 3-0 down at half-time, but I was annoyed with the guys.
“I don’t think we were terrible in the first half but we lost a couple of cheap goals that we’ve not really been doing.
“I was really annoyed at it, I made a lot of changes at half-time. I took the goalie off, took the captain and centre-half off, and I got the reaction I was looking for.
“I can accept losing goals but if it was in the manner that we lost goals I can’t accept that.
“I want to trust my players, I have full confidence in every one of them, but I need to sometimes prove a point.
“I needed a reaction and I got that. We were excellent in the second half, could have scored more and ended up with three points.
“But we take the point and move on.”
Ninth-place Braves host Edinburgh Uni, sitting 15th in the table, on Saturday and Waddell added: "People automatically think it’s an easier game, but Edinburgh Uni play with a really good spirit about them.
“They’re not expected to win every game, so they have nothing to lose and that takes the pressure off of them a wee bit.
“We’ll be favourites but we need to make sure we do the things we do well, and don’t give away anything cheap.
“If we perform, hopefully we get the three points, but we certainly won’t take it lightly, we’ve got to earn the right to win.”
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.
