Sauchie star Ryan Millar believes his side put in a much-improved performance despite crashing out of the Fife and Lothians Cup at the hands of Kelty Hearts on Wednesday evening.

The Wee County outfit were undone by a goal on the stroke of half time, and Millar believes his side were unfortunate to lose out.

However, the young forward says the display has lifted the mood in the Beechwood Park dressing room and will spur his team-mates on to secure  Super League survival, writes Jamie Hall.

Millar told Advertiser Sport: “It’s a bit disappointing but it is definitely an improvement on Saturday. The boys are feeling a bit more upbeat in terms of the rest of the season because it was a much better performance. We gave a sloppy goal away but from the end of the first half we did more than compete with Kelty. There are positives to take from it but at the end of the day we have gone out of the cup so we are a bit disappointed. We wanted to go through but we also wanted to enjoy ourselves. We needed to get a bit of confidence back among the boys so we can focus on staying in the league. That is our main priority.”

Millar admitted that Sauchie had had chances to get back into the game, but reckons that on another day they would have found the back of the net and says the fact that they are creating in the final third is a positive sign.

He said: “We had some decent chances including a couple right at the end. Kyle went through and Diars had a couple of chances. Getting early balls in behind seemed to be the trick and we managed to do that so there were big improvements in that respect.”

Sauchie now turn their attentions back to Super League duty with a trip to St Andrews on Saturday which could prove crucial in their battle to avoid the drop, and the former Falkirk striker backed his side to pick up the points they need to secure their league position.

Millar added: “There are always positives and there are always things you can work on. We are confident we can go up to St Andrews and get something from the game; if not a win then even a draw. We need as many points as possible between now and the end of the season to make sure we stay clear of relegation.”