East Kilbride boss discusses Bonnyrigg Rose standard as he eyes defensive imporvement next term

Boss Kevin Rutkiewicz admits East Kilbride have to sharpen up their act defensively next season after Lowland champions Bonnyrigg Rose denied Kilby the runners-up spot in the Lowland League.

Sean Brown’s second half header was all that separated the two sides at K-Park in a 1-0 defeat in EK’s final league match of the season.

The defending left a lot to be desired as Brown headed home at the back post and the new Kilby boss says when he looks at the final table, the club’s record of 40 goals conceded in 34 games this term shows it will be a key area in the close season – although he stressed there has to be a collective effort across the squad to improve those figures.

While Bonnyrigg march on to the pyramid play-offs, a seventh defeat of the season for EK means they have slipped to third behind Celtic B and could end up fourth if Rangers B win their final match on Saturday at home to Dalbeattie.

Assessing his side’s display on Saturday, Rutkiewicz said: “I don’t think we deserved to win the game, but I don’t think we deserved to lose the game either.

“I don’t think either keeper was really worked, but it was a good exercise for us to gauge the squad, although Bonnyrigg would have had their eye on other things and might have been a bit lacking a wee edge compared to earlier in the season.

“It’s very disappointing to lose, especially the manner in which we lost the goal. It was a poor one to concede collectively. The goal started with a free-kick in their half and it was a fairly avoidable goal.

“Now that the dust has settled and you look at the table, 40 goals in the goals against column is one of the reasons we’ve finished where we are so that’s something we will look to make tighter next season.

“I think we’ve been