Cumbernauld Colts seek to shut out 100-goal Shire attack

Shire have racked up over 100 goals in all competitions this season.

And Colts co-boss Craig McKinlay knows his side will have to defend better than they did against Vale of Leithen on Saturday if they are to keep out John Sludden’s ton-up troops.

McKinlay admitted: “The long and the short of it is we were very poor on Saturday. We’ve lost three in a row and frankly are losing too many goals.

“It was really disappointing, unlike the week before where we felt we played really well, the performance was really good but we weren’t clinical enough.

“It’s been a disappointing run but we need to put that right and have a big game coming up on Friday night.”

“Shire are scoring pretty freely on a regular basis and are doing well, so we need to be at our best and address a few things and will be working hard this week on doing that.”

Colts’ bid to match last season’s fourth-place finish has certainly been hampered by injuries. Richie Kirwan, Craig Murray, Jordan Pirrie, Mark Batchelor and Andy Selkirk are all struggling at the moment while last season’s top scorer Stephen O’Neill is only just back after several months out.

McKinlay said: “We’ve got a good squad but it hasn’t helped the continuity of the team that we’ve had to change the team on a regular basis.”