SAUCHIE assistant Adrian Hanson cut a frustrated figure after his side’s Premier League draw with Bathgate on Wednesday evening.

The Juniors took the lead in the first half but were pegged back in the final minute of the game, and Hanson reckons his players have to learn to fight for their points.

However, he admitted that Bathgate simply showed more desire than the Wee County side on a bitterly disappointing evening at Beechwood Park.

Hanson told Advertiser Sport: “It is hugely disappointing. To be honest we started well and got a foothold in the game but we fell away in the second half.

"Too many of the boys didn’t win their battles and felt sorry for themselves. We weren’t willing to do the dirty work.

“It feels like a defeat. Draws are no good to us at this stage.

"We want to win the title and the group of players we have is the best in the league, but that means nothing if you don’t work and some of us are falling well short of the standards we have set.

“Bathgate certainly wanted the game more than us. They pressed us all over the park.

"That is the most disappointing thing for us, that we had a chance at home to get three valuable points in game we should be winning, and we fell well short.”

Sauchie now have seven games in which to claim the East Premier title and are nine points behind clubhouse leaders Kennoway, who have finished their league campaign, but Hanson urged his players to be wary of sides who see Sauchie as the team to beat.

He said: “It’s going to come to the stage that we are going to run out of games. The players have set high standards all season and for them to get no reward for it now would be criminal, but they are making it very, very hard for themselves.

"It is becoming more and more difficult, because teams now see us as a scalp. It is going to be a battle and we are going to have to get our fingers out.

“We need to start showing that we are the best team in the league. Other teams will show us no respect and neither they should.

"They aren’t going to sit off us; they are fighting for their lives and at the moment, we aren’t matching that.

"The players have been labelled the team to beat and they have to start living up to that tag.”

Saturday’s clash with Forfar West End is a potentially-pivotal one in the race for promotion, and Hanson admitted the squad have to show more character if they are to come home with the required three points.

He added: “Forfar is a huge game. They beat us at Beechwood earlier in the season and it is going to be a huge test of character, but we are lacking that in some areas at the minute and that is going to have to change before Saturday.

"Their results have been up and down recently but they will be right up for it and we have to be ready for it. Dropping any points on Saturday is not an option.”