FRASER DUNCAN admitted his Sauchie side had a bad day at the office as they suffered a heavy defeat at home to Lochee.

The Juniors had gone into the game hoping to exact revenge for the playoff defeat two seasons ago which saw them drop out of the Super League, but they were left to rue missed chances and costly mistakes.

And the manager reckons his team were masters of their own downfall as they came crashing back to earth after Wednesday's victory over Bo'ness.

Duncan told Advertiser Sport: "It was a bad day at the office, and in reality we were left to rue the chances we missed.

"We passed up six or seven really good chances. The ball just wouldn't go in the net for us. We lost four goals and two of those came from mistakes.

"To be honest, we weren't good enough to win the game. To do that you have to take your chances and we didn't do that on Saturday. If you miss chances and make mistakes you get punished."

The gaffer added: "We looked like we were toiling a bit after Wednesday night, and there were a few guys who just had nothing left in their legs.

"They burst themselves to get that result against Bo'ness. But we can't blame that for Saturday.

"Lochee are a good side, probably the best of the three teams we've played so far. They'll give a lot of teams a fright this season.

"They're well-organised defensively and break quickly. But we got punished for not taking our chances and making mistakes at the back."

Duncan revealed that his attacking options have been depleted by injuries, but was adamant that his side will be ready to face local rivals Camelon on Wednesday evening.

He said: "Scott Hynd has only just come in, so he is still finding his feet, and Conor Kelly has barely had a pre-season because of injury. Gary Graham is still injured as well.

"Darren Cummings is the only striker at the minute who we can really rely on to stick the ball in the back of the net, and even he isn't one hundred per cent fit.

"It's going to take a couple of weeks to get a couple of injuries and things cleared up, but we can't afford a couple of weeks. We play Camelon on Wednesday so we will rest up and be ready to go again."

The manager says it's crucial that Sauchie get back on track by picking up points from two tricky away ties at Camelon and Penicuik, and warned his players that they will face a slog unless they can take something from this week's double-header.

Duncan added: "We need to go there and get a result. It's always a difficult place to go and they won't make it easy for us.

"We have another tough one at Penicuik on Saturday. They are firing on all cylinders at the minute, so we have to execute our gameplan to perfection.

"I'd be delighted if we can pick up four points from this week. It will be a hard struggle if we take nothing from the two games."