SAUCHIE boss Fraser Duncan admitted his side’s defeat to Kennoway Star Hearts was a missed opportunity to pick up three points.

The Wee County side were unbeaten on league duty since November, but found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline.

The manager felt his players just never got going and pointed to a lack of desire as the reason.

Duncan told Advertiser Sport: “We are gutted about Saturday. We just never turned up. It’s another one of those performances where we have been a totally different team to the week before.

"There was a lack of desire and a lack of effort on Saturday.

“It’s a disappointing result for us. We need to keep putting points on the board and Saturday was a great opportunity to do that because I felt Kennoway were very poor. But that just shows how poor we were.”

Duncan revealed that his squad has been decimated by injuries, and he is anxious for his stars to return to full fitness with a hectic end-of-season schedule lying in wait.

He said: “It may be the case that some bodies are getting tired. It’s been stop-start so although we’ve been training it’s been difficult for us to get match-fit. We are trying to clear up a few injuries at the minute.

“We have probably made a few of the injuries worse on Saturday by pushing hard to win the game. The important thing this week is to try and get them cleared up.

“Injuries are a real concern because we are carrying three or four knocks at the minute. Our squad isn’t big enough to handle that.

"The most important thing this week is to get those cleared up because once the midweek games start next week, they are going to come thick and fast. We need to make sure we have enough bodies.”

Next up for Sauchie is a trip to Carnoustie Panmure, and Duncan is desperate for his side to get back to winning ways.

He added: “We need to make amends. We’ve been in great form and we’ve been very hard to beat.

"We came off the rails on Saturday and it’s very important now that we get back on the rails and get back to picking up points.