Injury problems mount for Clachnacuddin ahead of tie against Brora Rangers
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MANAGER Conor Gethins says he is facing a number of injury concerns ahead of Clachnacuddin’s trip to Brora Rangers on Saturday.
But he is still expecting a reaction to recent poor performances which included Wednesday night’s 4-1 defeat to Forres Mechanics at Grant Street Park.
The Lilywhites have gone five games without a win in which they conceded 18 goals.
They head to Dudgeon Park to face a Brora Rangers team who will still believe they have an outside chance of winning the title.
Gethins says injuries are an issue with his team at the moment, but he is still looking for improvement from his squad.
“We hope to get a reaction, but we have quite a lot of injuries stacking up,” said Gethins.
“The squad is starting to get thin again.
“We had myself, Robbie Duncanson and Martin Callum on the bench against Forres.
“Our best player on Wednesday was Marty Callum. He was superb when he came on. He held the game the way we want the game to be played, with calmness in the midfield and starting the attacks in the right way. He was excellent.”
In the 4-1 defeat on Wednesday night, Ryan McRitchie gave Forres the lead eight minutes before half time.
Connor Bunce equalised for Clachnacuddin at the start of the second half with a superb free kick.
But Forres regained the lead 12 minutes before the end from Calum Frame before a late Lee Fraser double secured all three points for Forres.
Gethins said the scoreline flattered Forres, but poor defending meant Clachnacuddin deserved to lose.
He said: “It wasn’t a 4-1 game. I said to the boys afterwards people will think Forres battered Clach, but they didn’t.
“If you look at the goals in the second half, it was two clearances from the keeper that fell to their feet. Calum Frame ran through 30 yards on goal, we never pressed and stood off him, and he scored. And Lee Fraser scored a bullet header.
“It was just terrible defending, yet overall I felt we were probably the better team.
“At 1-1, I thought we were so comfortable. I thought we would push on and attack down the bottom end, but we didn’t take chances and we didn’t defend and conceded stupid goals - it’s not a good combination.”
