We had hoped we could get a run in the cup this year again, but it wasn’t to be, as the inconsistency that we’ve shown so far this season appeared again and proved costly. To say we are all still extremely disappointed to have gone out at Dumbarton last weekend is an understatement. 

Looking back on the game, we didn’t start the match in the way we wanted to, we were on the back foot for most of the first half which is not what we wanted as we knew the opening 15 / 20 minutes would be key.  As well as not getting going from the start, the two goals we lost were poor from our point of view.  Sometimes you need to be patient but although we were marginally better in the second half we didn’t trouble them enough in the final third. 

Inconsistency has really plagued us this season, we thought we had turned a corner but we took a step back again last week.  We have a good group of players so it’s frustrating for everyone when we don’t know from week to week what we’re going to get.  However, we will keep plugging away and keep believing in our ability and hopefully it will come together and we can get that run going. 

Being out of the cup means that we can focus fully on the top four, it’s always been our ambition for the season and it’s still got to be our goal, although the first half of the season has been disappointing, we’re still in there and not too far away. 

Alloa beating Raith during the week was a good result for ourselves as it keeps that gap to two points and we’ve now played the same number of games.  

This weekend we head back to Dumbarton, it’s not ideal that we’re playing them for the second time in a week, but the game will be fresh in the player’s minds and they should know what to expect.  We all know we didn’t play anywhere near our maximum last weekend and we know the players we have are capable of far more so I will be expecting to see that on Saturday. 

New signing, Andy Murdoch is in the squad for the trip.  As I said when he signed earlier in the week, he is an exciting young player, who despite his age already has a wealth of experience and we hope we benefit from that in his time at Palmerston. 

We lost our captain Chris Higgins during last week’s game with an injury to his ankle, he hasn’t recovered – so won’t be available for the return trip.  Gary Oliver is carrying a knock and struggling too. 

Callum Tapping has had 45 minutes of game time under his belt so is working his way back slowly. And Dale Hilson has started more weight bearing training and continues to make good progress, but still has a couple of weeks to go before being available for selection. 

We are still working hard to add to the squad so hopefully we can bring you news on that soon.