Fraser Duncan admitted Sauchie have some way to go before they can compete with the Super League's big guns after they were beaten at home by Penicuik.

The 32-year-old watched his side slump to their third straight defeat despite taking the lead in the first half.

The manager admitted his side are struggling and believes they have been punching above their weight.

Duncan told Advertiser Sport: “It's a difficult one to take. In the first half we were fine but we don't have the depth in the squad to compete with that sort of team and it showed on Saturday. We're not a million miles away but we are off the pace. They were a better side than us and it showed. We have been punching above our weight and it's starting to show. We had a bit of a honeymoon period where we got a few decent results but now we are really struggling and we are going to struggle in every game because we don't have that squad depth.

“To be honest the fans need to realise just how much of a gap there is and how far away we are at the minute from being able to compete. We have had five good years but we are really toiling and the fans need to understand what level we are at. We don't have the budget or the finances that the bigger sides have got.”

Duncan praised new signing Gary Shanks after he scored Sauchie's goal to give them the lead.

He said: “Gary has just signed for us in the last week. He came on against Linlithgow but that was his first start and he did really well. He gave us a real threat and I thought when we went ahead that we might have a chance but unfortunately we don't have the quality to last the 90 minutes.”

Sauchie face a long trip north to face Inverness City in the Scottish Junior Cup on Saturday, and Duncan says they are in for another difficult afternoon.

He added: “We need to lift ourselves because it's going to be a difficult one on Saturday. It's a difficult place to go. We are working on things we need to improve from week to week but unfortunately there is not much time for improvement. There's not much time to prepare young players and sometimes it can be like sending lambs to the slaughter. I feel like that sometimes when I'm having to put younger players in and it's not fair on them. But we'll train hard and try to take a bit of confidence from the first half on Saturday because we did alright.”