Thistle toil in friendly:
Alarm bells ring for manager Paterson after loss
Eastfield ............... 3 EK Thistle ............. 0
Alan Paterson admits East Kilbride Thistle are still a long way off being ready for the new season after they lost to amateur side Eastfield.
The Jags were beaten 3-0 in a friendly at Broadwood on Saturday, with all the goals coming in the second half, and the Showpark gaffer is concerned by the showing.
It was a makeshift Thistle side who took to the field and the uncertainty surrounding the future of talisman Scott Hadden – he is currently on trial with Premier League giants Auchinleck – didn’t help either.
But Paterson’s main worry is the fitness of his players as they prepare to kick off competitive action this weekend in the Sectional League Cup, away to Blantyre Victoria. West Region League One league kicks-off just a week later on August 4.
“I thought we were really poor, but that’s not to take anything away from Eastfield,” said Paterson.
“I was in the Amateur leagues a couple of seasons ago [with EK Amateurs], so I knew they would be fit and I knew they like to get the ball down and play.
“We needed a game like that to test us at this stage, to see where we are – and we are still a long way away from where we need to be.
“The result is down to a mixture of a lack of bodies and Eastfield’s fitness being very strong.
“Eastfield have been back over a month and their fitness caused us to make mistakes. Saturday was the first game for a lot of our players and they haven’t really had much of a pre-season.
“We coped well enough in the first half, but at the start of the second half we made some silly mistakes and that was the game gone.
“A lack of experience killed us as well. For the second half we were chasing shadows.
“I don’t think it was a 3-0 game, but Eastfield deserved to win.”
With Hadden missing and a number of the squad on holiday, Thistle failed to build on their promising 4-2 win over Bonnyton Thistle last week.
Paterson rang the changes and experimented with different options in Hadden’s role, just off the strikers, but that backfired.
He added: “Pre-season is when you experiment and I was trying something different in a few positions.
“We don’t know what is happening with Scott yet, so we had Keegan Leddie in there behind the front two for the first half and then Kevin McLean in the second half, but it’s safe to say they are better in their natural positions.
“The only good thing about Saturday was a few of the boys got a full 90 minutes under their belts, but it’s clear a few of them need to work harder on their fitness away from the club.”
Tonight’s scheduled Tommy McGrane Cup match with St Roch’s has been cancelled. Urgent repairs are required to showers in the Showpark dressing rooms and will not be carried out in time for the tie.
It means they jump straight into competitive action on Saturday in the League Cup. Their trip to Blantyre is followed by a journey to Larkhall Thistle on Monday night and Rutherglen Glencairn then visit the Showpark next Wednesday night [August 1] to close out the group.
“It’s the League Cup and we want to do well in it. We want to go out and win games, but we’ll need to look at players and see what’s needed to get these guys ready for the first league game,” warned Paterson.
“Ross Gillan, Reece Clarke, Graeme Marshall, Liam Barclay and Jordan White are all back from holiday this week, so we will be a bit stronger for those games.
“But Scott is still on trial at Auchinleck this week. I hope it’s sorted soon either way. It’s a great move for him if it comes off, but he would be a massive loss for us.
“If he goes, we need our young boys to step up to the plate.”
Meanwhile, Paterson will have a further look at 17-year-old trialist Michael Ward this week before deciding if the midfielder has a future at the Showpark.
He said: “Michael doesn’t seem fazed by anything. He’s comfortable on the ball and he doesn’t shirk out of a challenge, so we’ll see him in a couple of more games before we make a decision.
“I just want to make sure I’m not rushing a young boy into Junior football because it’s going to be a tough league this season.”