Sauchie star Brian Morgan says he will use the pain of missing out on the East of Scotland cup final win last season as his motivation to help his team to glory this year.

The 25-year-old missed the 4-1 win over Arniston due to a clash with his stag do and is now set to miss the opening two games of the season for his honeymoon but the midfield dynamo has vowed to make up for lost time on his return and has no worries that the team will cope without him.

Morgan told Advertiser sport, “I get married this weekend so I am missing the first two games of the season for my honeymoon but I know the lads will do the business in my absence.

“The team is such now that we have such a hard working bunch of lads and so I will have to fight for my place in the team again when I get back. This season, we are hungry for more success and are confident with the way we have been playing that we can do something in the cups this year.

“The league season was up and down last year but we don’t fear any of the big teams now. We just need to concentrate more in the games where we are expected to win.

“I missed out on the cup final last year so it didn’t feel like I had won anything so that has made me even more determined to help the team be successful this time around.” Morgan notched in the 4-0 over Haddington Athletic last weekend and believes that the new look Beechwood Park squad will surprise a few teams with their energy as the gaffer’s summer recruits have brought a good factor to the club.

He said, “I am quite enthusiastic about the new season starting because we have a real good buzz about the dressing room. The manager has added in a lot of younger players to the squad this year and to be honest it has brought a real freshness to the team.

“We have a lot more energy as a team and there is a real unity about our dressing room now. I was pleased to get the chance to play central midfield against Haddington last weekend because that is where I prefer to play but I am happy to play wherever the manager needs me to.

“It was a great feeling to get back on the scoresheet and we have a real good buzz around the club with us playing so well so far in pre-season.

“All of the new lads have slotted straight into the team and so we will be looking to hit the ground running when the real stuff begins against Linlithgow next week.” Manager Fraser Duncan has opted for a tough regime of friendlies this summer in a bid to get his up to peak match sharpness and last season’s player of the year reckons it will pay off when the real stuff begins.

Morgan added, “This week has been really tough with a lot of games in a short space of time but I am sure it will benefit us a lot more than say a double session of running and all the players would rather be playing games.

“You can do all the running that you want but it is match sharpness that you really need and I think this week has been brilliant for that but we will only see the benefit of it once the competitive stuff gets underway.”