Binos boss snaps up midfielder

a poor run which has seen them only win once since they defeated City 2-1 at Ainslie Park on November 4.

James McDonaugh’s side began 2018 with back-to-back victories over Berwick Rangers and Cowdenbeath without conceding a goal but were beaten 2-0 by leaders Montrose last weekend and had striker Farid El Alagui sent off.

The Binos saw off Berwick 2-0 in their last home game but went down 4-3 to title favourites Peterhead at a windy Balmoor on Saturday – and Mackay was unhappy with his side’s defending.

He said: “Edinburgh City have certainly picked up recently and have made some good signings.

“James McDonaugh has made them harder to beat and they have started scoring a few goals – if we don’t play at our best then we are vulnerable against anyone, as the last couple of months have shown.

“The top four has to be the priority because we are a long way behind Peterhead and we can almost forget about that for the minute.

“Things can obviously change if you go on an incredible run but first and foremost we have to make sure we are in the top four come the end of the season because it will be a huge disappointment if not.

“We’ve got 17 games to go and we need to cut out the defensive errors. I’m sure we’ll be fine but the last couple of months have been nowhere near good enough.

“The last seven or eight weeks we haven’t been playing particularly well but we’ve at least looked a lot more solid.

“But that was us back to our old ways defensively at Peterhead.”