SAUCHIE boss Fraser Duncan was gutted after his side crashed out of the Fife and Lothians Cup at the hands of Dundonald Bluebell.

The manager admitted he felt let down by Sauchie’s display as they slumped to a 6-1 defeat and says the performance was not acceptable.

And he revealed he would have no hesitation in making changes to ensure there is no repeat when they take on Forfar West End in the Premier League on Saturday.

Duncan told Advertiser Sport: “We are bitterly disappointed. It is a bad way to get brought back down to earth and it is a let-down to be honest.

"I wouldn’t have said there was a difference in class between the two teams. We just had far too many players who didn’t turn up. Now they need to understand that it’s time to roll their sleeves up and start fighting for places. We have a big squad of 19 so there will be changes made and it’s up to the boys to react to those changes.

"We have let ourselves and the fans down because we need to show that we have come a long way since the play-off at the end of last season but that performance would have seen us beaten in those games. We can’t afford that and it won’t be tolerated.”

Sauchie’s defeat was made all the more surprising by the fact that they took the lead through Darren Cummings in the early stages, with Duncan bemoaning his side’s capitulation after half-time.

He said: “Daz scored after seven minutes and even after they equalised, we were by far the better side. We kept the ball off them and controlled the game. We just looked lacklustre at the back and that’s not acceptable. Then they scored just before half-time and after that we would have been as well staying in the changing rooms at half-time. We couldn’t pick a pass, we couldn’t defend and we couldn’t create chances. We went back to old bad habits which can’t happen. That is something we will have to fix for next week.”

However, the club have received a boost with the news that captain Brian Morgan will return to training in the next few weeks following his recovery from a leg break.

Duncan added: “We have had some good news about Morgy; we think he is only two or three weeks away from being able to join in training again. It will just be light training but we reckon he is only a fortnight away. He has been in to see specialists to get his leg sorted. He is a prized asset so we have taken really good care of him and looked after him. It’s just about getting him back fit now.”