SAUCHIE boss Fraser Duncan says last week was a low point for the club as they lost two games from winning positions.

Last Wednesday Sauchie were winning 1-0 against Hill of Beath but lost the game 2-1. History repeated on Saturday, with Blackburn United the opponent and the scoreline the same.

Duncan was hoping for six points and got none, leaving his team in the relegation zone with no wins from their first five games.

He told Advertiser Sport: "It's one of they ones where I don't want to be too hard on the players, but if we're not going to hold onto leads like that and give away two soft goals then we're not going to win many games.

"We changed the formation, went more attack-minded with three up-front and three at the back and it probably worked for us for 85/86 minutes.

"Then, we kind of think the game's over, we switch off at the back and we've made two very bad decisions at the back and it cost us two goals.

"If I'm being honest it's the first time Blackburn went up the park in the second half and they scored two goals.

"It's worrying, it's very disappointing," he added. "Three points was a must, I said that to the players.

"At the beginning of [last week] if you look at the Hill of Beath game and the Blackburn game you'd be looking to get six points from them and we've ended up coming away with nothing. It's a low point, we need to get things sorted very quickly.

"There's a long way to go and we're going to have to pick ourselves up because if we don't we're going to be in a relegation battle and I said to the players that's not where I want to be.

"We've played five games this year; four of them, we've been the better side and the one game that's been 50-50 we've got a point of it.

"It's a concern that we can't see games out, we're too nice. We can't go out and do the dirty side of things. We should have seen that game out comfortably on Saturday.

"On Wednesday night we should have went out in the second half and made it very difficult for them, kept possession of the ball. We were rushing things – a wee bit inexperienced, if I'm being honest."

The current situation for junior football is hardly making things easier for Sauchie and the conditions for the players will only get worse in the winter months.

Duncan continued: "We can't train, there's nowhere in Clackmannanshire for us to go and train. There's no astroturf pitches, we're having to go out and do road running, training in car parks. It's crazy, it's ridiculous.

"Guys on Saturday are getting changed for a game in a stadium in an enclosure in the stand then after the game they can't get showered.

"It was a horrible day; it's mucky. We're into November now, can't get showered – it's just no good at all.

"People are saying at least you get to play football and aye that's true, but football's just not enjoyable at the minute.

"Then with us not playing well and not getting results, it's difficult and just makes it ten times worse."

There's also no guarantee the season will continue through the winter. With England going into a second lockdown and non-professional football being suspended, there's a possibility the same may happen in Scotland.

"I'm a wee bit worried and I said that to the players on Saturday," Duncan said. "We don't know what's going to happen, with the SFA being so unpredictable you never know.

"It could be a case of they turn around and say we'll finish the league as it is there and then.

"If they do that, we've not gave ourselves any chance of getting out that bottom three. It is a concern in case they put a straightforward ban on playing football for a year

"It's worrying times but it's worrying for everybody and I don't know how many clubs will possibly survive this. There could be a lot of clubs not making it out the other end of this."

Sauchie host Kilwinning Rangers in the Challenge Cup tonight and Duncan is hoping the game will provide a platform to build ahead of Saturday's match away to high-flying Lothian Thistle.

"The game [tonight] is an extra for us," Duncan continued. "It's a good chance for us to go and take our mind off the league maybe,.

"It's all about us relaxing, trying to relax and play our game and score goals. That's the most important thing for us.

"Then on Saturday, going away to Hutchie Vale is going to be hard as they're performing really well at the moment, they've had a great start.

"We'll need to be on it to make sure we can keep up with them so we're going to have to sort ourselves out this week."