By KEVIN CRAIGENS
CRAIG GUPWELL reckons Newmains are going missing in games because some of their players don’t always appear at training.
The United co-boss was left frustrated at his side’s lacklustre display at New Pebble Park.
Gupwell insists they need more commitment in between matches if they’re to perform when it comes to kick-off.
He said: “I sit and question how we are so easy to score against but the answer stares us in the face – it’s the simple fact boys don’t seem to want to train.
“We’re currently carrying a squad of over 20. We turn up on a Monday night with ten players available then around 13 are there on the Wednesday.
“On match day there are so many boys available we can’t strip everyone. Granted we’re one of very few teams that don’t pay our players.
“But at this level you have to want to commit to training and playing or you’ll not improve as a team.”
Annbank ran out convincing winners thanks to
Euan Smith’s hat-trick, a double from Rory Tait and new signing Dennis Smolenskij hitting No6.
Despite the heavy scoreline Gupwell did see some signs of encouragement ahead of tonight’s clash at Forth Wanderers (kick-off 6.45pm), including an appearance from trialist Jack Gold.
Gupwell said: “After a performance like Saturday’s it’s difficult to remain positive but there were parts of the game where we played well.
“With a little more potency in the forward areas we could have got ourselves back in the game.
“We came out fighting for the first 15 minutes of the second half and dominated but we have nothing to show for it.
“When we conceded the fourth you could just sense heads went down. It was a sucker punch at that stage of the game.
“One of the positives we’ll take from the game is that we had Jack Gold come in and he did well after impressing in a week of training.
“But the big difference was Annbank executed their game plan to perfection and we didn’t. It’s as simple as that.”
