Conor Kelly says he and his team-mates are frustrated with their current run of results following their defeat to Penicuik.

The Sauchie striker felt his side had the better of the first half but they failed to take the chances which would have seen them extend their advantage.

Despite Penicuik fighting back to hand Sauchie a third straight defeat, Kelly believes there are signs of improvement for the Beechwood Park side.

He told Advertiser Sport: “A lot of the boys are feeling frustrated, especially because we played so well in the first half. We had chances to go further in front and we needed to take those when they arrived. We started the better team and we were playing well. We deserved the lead and we could have gone 2-0 up. Their first is a scrappy goal and then there are only a couple of minutes between their two goals in the second half. It's killed us a bit.

“Over the past few weeks we have probably not been creating enough chances but we did that in the first half and we probably created more than Penicuik did. Against teams like that you really need to take your chances. The keeper has made a couple of great saves and done really well. To be honest I felt I should have scored myself so I'm not going to have a go at any of the other boys.”

The top scorer admitted he is not sure where it has gone wrong for Sauchie, but insists they are ready to bounce back when they face Inverness City in the Scottish Junior Cup.

Kelly said: “I can't put my finger on what's gone wrong. We have a good team, everybody works hard and it just seems like it's not happening for us at the moment. The gaffer has had a good talk with us and we're ready to kick on this weekend.

“We are definitely capable of going there and getting a result, and I think we need to. It's not been good enough over the past few weeks and although we have been playing teams who have been in good form we should have taken something. We deserved it on Saturday.”

Kelly praised new signings Gary Shanks and Roger Duffin after their respective moves to Beechwood Park.

He added: “Gary got a goal at the weekend at Roger has a lot of experience at the back. He's a good talker and organises us well. They both have a lot of good qualities which will give us a boost. A couple of new bodies freshens it up a bit and I think they will add to the strength of the squad.”