East Kilbride Thistle adversity has brought team closer together, says caretaker boss

Caretaker boss Aaron Connolly reckons a difficult spell for East Kilbride Thistle on and off the pitch has made the bond in the squad stronger.

The Showpark side have been rocked by Garry O’Hanlon’s sacking as manager and the shock death of beloved former Jags boss Alan Paterson - who will be laid to rest today - in the last few weeks.

But Connolly – who has taken the reins from O’Hanlon on an interim basis – believes that adversity has seen the squad come together to produce an uplift in performances on the pitch.

The Jags won their first two games under Connolly and on Saturday suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat at Dalry.

It is a far cry from the heavy losses they suffered before that in the West of Scotland Third Division, most notably 6-1 and 4-1 reverses to Lanark Thistle and Lanark United, respectively.

And Connolly said: “I think what we are seeing is the squad settling down and finding a real togetherness and a bond.

“That has probably come from the challenges we have faced in the last few weeks, both in terms of the well-documented news with Alan Paterson and Garry O’Hanlon going out and me stepping in.

“Sometimes adversity brings you closer together and I think that’s probably what has happened with them.

“I can’t fault them for their efforts. They’ve been unbelievable.

“I don’t know if it is anything that I’ve done.

“We have tweaked a couple of things but I don’t like this idea of me coming in and ‘steadying the ship’.

“I think we’ve got a good squad of quality players and they are just starting to gel a bit now.

“We are starting to look more like a unit and I think that would have come in time anyway.

“I have tweaked a couple of things and we’ve put some younger players into the squad to give it some fresh impetus.