SAUCHIE boss Fraser Duncan was delighted following his side’s victory over Dalkeith Thistle on Wednesday evening.

Duncan was thrilled that his players put their hard work on the training ground to good use as they saw off fourth-placed Thistle with a convincing 3-1 win at Beechwood Park.

And the manager took the time to praise several of his players’ individual displays after the Wee County outfit took another step towards the East Premier title.

Duncan told Advertiser Sport: “It was always going to be a tough one because Dalkeith are a really good side, and they gave us a good game through there in December.

"We had to come from behind and score in the last ten minutes to win that one. I knew it would be the same again, but the boys did really well. They worked hard.

"We got a lot of joy getting in behind them and that was really pleasing because it’s something we have been working on in training. We mixed things up and played some really good stuff.

“Two or three of the individual performances were outstanding. Brian Morgan had his best game since coming back in and he’s really stepped things up.

"Ryan Millar is struggling for a goal at the minute but he worked so hard, and he made a real difference.

“The midfield three of Morgy, Gary McCulloch and David Morrison must be a real pain in the backside to play against, and I think my two centre-backs are the best in the league.

"At 18 and 21 they are also probably the youngest, but they have so much quality and if we do go up I really want to keep them here.”

Duncan highlighted the performance of right-back Mark Sharp, who capped a terrific display with his first goal for the club, and the manager praised the defender’s commitment after forcing his way into the first-team reckoning in recent weeks.

He said: “Mark has had to be patient. He has been so unlucky that we’ve had so many good options at right back this season with Gary McCulloch and Stuart McFarlane both playing there, but he has taken his chance with both hands.

"He is a great lad who I think has only missed one training session all season which is a credit to him. He is a great lad to have about the club. It’s great for him to get his goal and hopefully he can kick on from that.”

Wednesday’s victory was tempered by the loss of Steven Higgins, Iain Syme and David Morrison to injury, and with his squad already threadbare, Duncan admitted that Saturday’s East of Scotland Cup clash with Kelty will take a back seat as the Juniors look to seal promotion.

He added: “We were thin on the ground already and to lose Higgy, Symey and Morri is a big blow.

"Morri just has a slight ankle knock so I think he will manage to shake it off, but I don’t want to play Symey or Higgy on Saturday and risk losing them for the rest of the season.

"To be honest though, my eyes are on another prize. It’s the first time I’ve ever had to take that approach in my time as a manager, but the game has just come at the wrong time and we are going to have to prioritise the league.

"The last thing I want to do is play Bathgate and Forfar next week with half a team, because that is where things started to go wrong last season.”