Sauchie boss Fraser Duncan has revealed he had to read his players the riot act after their 7-0 loss shocker away at title-chasing Bo’ness United last weekend.

It was the Beechwood Park side’s second defeat on the spin after a 3-1 home defeat to Linlithgow Rose last Wednesday that now sees them being tipped as the relegation favourites but the gaffer believes his squad should use that tag as motivation for the rest of the season.

Duncan told Advertiser sport, “The bookies making us relegation favourites has angered the players and I think that will be a good motivation for them now to go and prove their doubters wrong. The players have to buck up their ideas or we are going to have a long hard season. I had a live link to the Linlithgow game while I was abroad and to be fair I think we gave them far too much respect.

“We stood off them and allowed them to play and to be fair Darren Dolan has kept us in the game for long spells. It was great for me to see that he is capable of stepping up and performing in the big games. It has been a massive disappointment in the way we have lost the two games but it is very difficult to start the campaign against the two best teams in the league.

“These things happen in football and for the Bo’ness game, to be 2-0 down at half time and then concede quickly then it becomes an uphill task and unfortunately the players just threw the towel in. We didn’t show the right attitude at the right time and we have spoken to the players this week about that and also about the defending which was abysmal.

“That just isn’t an acceptable standard for this club and I am not going to accept that kind of performance again. You shouldn’t get beat 7-0 at any level but I can assure the fans it won’t be happening to us again. I do believe it will be a difficult for us this season where we will have to scrap and battle for every point we get but if that is the case then we need to show a better attitude and fighting spirit. It is all about how we pick ourselves up now and to be fair the reaction I have got is a good one.” Duncan knows he has work on his hands to find improvement from his young side if they are to match the teams in and around them in the table but revealed that he will now look to add to his squad in the coming week.

He said, “The likes of Kelty, Musselburgh and Newtongrange have all spent wisely and improved as teams this year. We have not spent anything and so maybe it is time for us to go and bring in three or four new bodies now.

“Ideally I would like to get another striker, a centre half, maybe a midfielder and hopefully we can do something in the next few days. We know what we have to work on and I believe we can still improve a lot because we are a very young side.

“We now just have to focus on improving game by game now and then the next time these two fixtures come around then we can pay them back and that is all we can do.” The 31-year-old former Ipswich trainee has now challenged his squad to stand and be counted and he believes the next three games can determine the direction of their season beginning with a difficult home game with Musselburgh on Saturday.

Duncan added, “This weekend will be another difficult one for us and I don’t think anyone else in the league has been given as difficult a start as we have. That is the reality of it and we must go and face the challenge head on now. They are flying with two wins out of two and they have added well this summer.

“The next three games are going to be vital for us and we really need to be looking to get six points at least from those games. We know there is a lot more work to be done but I am still confident we can go and get the job done.”