Rutherglen Glencairn boss Joe Pryce insists his side must show greater mental strength if they are to achieve promotion this season.
Glens were held to a 4-4 draw at home to rock-bottom Blantyre Vics on Saturday, conceding a last-gasp penalty having netted from the spot themselves late on to seemingly take all three points.
The draw saw Glens slip to sixth in the West of Scotland First Division ahead of a huge trip to fifth place Arthurlie – who have five games in hand – this weekend. And Pryce knows with just two points separating the top six and four teams sitting joint-top (Renfrew, Petershill, Kilwinning and St Roch’s) on 30 points, they can’t afford to keep letting games slip.
Pryce, who is co-boss alongside Billy Ogilvie, said: “We have to knuckle down, show a bit of character and face adversity when it comes towards us because, at the moment, any kind of setback we get we don’t recover from it.
“We don’t just have to be better physically but mentally as well. We need to be stronger than we are and that is something we will work on.
“We are never going to achieve anything defending the way we have been. The goals against column in the league (32) tells us that.
“The league is so tight and we really have to work hard to make that better because it is simply not good enough right now.”
On the challenge facing them at Dunterlie Park, Pryce added: “Arthurlie was going to be a tough game anyway. They have shown a level of consistency in the league this season that nobody else has. They have been terrific. We know it is going to be really tough and we can’t defend the way we have been.
“There is still faith and belief in this squad. They are just going through a really tough time at the moment. We can’t seem to get any continuity or rhythm going.
“Saturday was the first time we played on consecutive Saturdays since November. We are playing one week, then missing two.
“It is not making excuses, it’s just a simple fact, but if we can get a wee run of fixtures perhaps we can show the form we showed at the start of the season. We need to get back to that.”