Shotts boss not panicking with side in West of Scotland First Division relegation zone

Shotts boss John McKeown isn’t panicking after a point from their last two games left his side four points adrift in the West of Scotland First Division relegation zone.

The Hannah Park side are second bottom of the table but still have between two and seven games in hand over sides above them in the standings to haul themselves out of trouble.

A 1-0 defeat away to title-chasing Gartcairn last Wednesday night was followed by a 1-1 draw at home to Bonnyton Thistle on Saturday, courtesy of Taylor Evans’ first-half equaliser.

And McKeown believes the effort his side has shown in recent matches, despite dropping points, is a positive to take into their final nine games.

He said: “The commitment and effort I’ve seen off the players in the last few games has been different class.

“Sometimes teams can get disheartened when it’s not going for them, but that’s the real positive I’m taking from the last couple of games.

“We were unfortunate against Gartcairn last week. We dominated large spells of the game but made an error that allowed them to score.

“We just couldn’t get a goal ourselves, despite creating a few openings and having most of the possession, particularly in the second half.

“But that’s why they are up the top end and we are down the bottom end, because they take their chances when they come and they are able to defend a wee bit better than we did.

“I’ve felt like a broken record since January because individual errors have been killing us and not taking our chances. We’ve been really competing with the top teams.

“And Bonnyton was more of the same. We missed a penalty before half-time and we hit the woodwork twice – and that’s just the way it is going for us.

“But we’ve still got to play the teams around us and we