Mis-firingJags sunkby‘Gow
Boss Aaron Connolly says East Kilbride Thistle need to be more clinical in front of goal if they are to steer clear of the relegation zone in the West of Scotland Third Division.
The Jags fell to a 3-0 defeat away to Lesmahagow on Saturday, which leaves them just three points above the drop zone in 12th spot, going into the final part of the season.
Twelve games remain for Thistle to put more distance between themselves and the bottom six teams in danger, but their weekend profligacy in front of goal has Connolly demanding more from his charges.
He said:“We need to be more clinical when we are on top in games. Too often we find ourselves having to chase the match.
“We are ultimately disappointed with the end result and really frustrated by the game. I thought the first 30-35 minutes we dominated and missed a couple of big chances, and moments in games change the outcome.
“We missed some chances then we got caught out by a long ball over the top and Lesmahagow go through and score.
“I thought we were really harshly behind at half-time, but in the second we were poor and lost a bit of belief.
“I don’t think we did things as well as we have been in the last couple of weeks and Lesmahagow we worth their victory because of that.
“Again, right after it goes 2-0, we miss a big chance one-on-one with the goalkeeper that could have got us back into the game.
“That sucked the last bit of belief and energy out of us.”
A home clash with second-bottom Royal Albert now awaits on Saturday and Connolly says it is a game they must – and should – win to get back on track.
Connolly, whose side ran out 2-1 winners at Albert earlier in the season, added:“It is a game we should win and that is no disrespect to Royal Albert.
“I think we have done reasonably well against the teams in and around us over the course of the season.
“We need to maintain that and we need to go into Saturday looking to win the game, as we do every week.
“We need to put more points on the board than we have, but I don’t think we are far away.
“Maybe naivety costs us at times and we’ve had our fair share of bad luck in our recent run of results as well.
“But, as I said on Saturday, the big moments went against us.
“We aren’t a million miles away but one look at the table tells you we need to pick up points fairly quickly.
“I’m not going to add that pressure onto Saturday for myself or the players.
“We are still going to keep playing the way we want to play, and hopefully the results will come.
“I think we will be fine in time, but we’ve definitely had a few lessons in the last couple of weeks.”