We just need to try to get through

Peterhead fell to a 6-0 drubbing at Raith on Wednesday night, but Blue Toon manager Jim McInally wasn’t too distraught, instead focusing on getting players back and getting through a tough period.

The Blue Toon boss said: “I don't think we could have had a worse game to come off after Sunday to play Raith Rovers. Their first game under a new manager - the boys are nice and bright, good players. And, obviously, when you see what we have lost and you see Scott Brown playing for them, it's a big, big jump.

“So it's just a case of trying to get through this period, get our stronger players back in the team and just get everybody in.

“Boys like Olajuwon Adeyamo haven't played 90 minutes in about a year or something like that. He played 90 minutes tonight; Ryan Dow, Andrew McDonald, Paul Dixon, Jack Brown ... so it's important game time for them.

“For the younger boys, it was a harsh lesson in how cruel football can be. You just make a wee mistake and, before you know it, the ball is in the net.

“The main thing was to get through the game without injuries, which we have done, because we're probably at the stage where, if we got any injuries, we would not be able to play on Saturday, which would have been pretty embarrassing. So we just need to see this wee period out.”

He continued: “The whole situation is we had six people out today, we got two significant injuries to two of our best players, a suspension that was self-inflicted with another of our best players, one player to get an operation and another coming back from an operation, and obviously our goalkeeper was in Spain. We'll have him back on Friday, so that helps us out enormously.

“So there's a bit of everything. The trepidation was for me that we got more injuries.