Buckie Thistle manager Graeme Stewart wants his Jags to bounce back from Rothes defeat by reclaiming Highland League top spot from Fraserburgh at Victoria Park tonight
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BUCKIE Thistle will lick their wounds from Saturday’s first league defeat and try to topple new leaders Fraserburgh tonight.
Jags boss Graeme Stewart reflected on a disappointing team performance at Rothes last weekend and a 2-0 loss which ended their perfect start to the campaign.
The result left Fraserburgh with the only remaining 100 per cent record in the league, with the Buchan battlers heading for Victoria Park on Wednesday for what promises to be a cracker.
First half goals by Greg Morrison and Alan Pollock (pen) gave Rothes the three points at Mackessack Park in what Stewart regarded as the Jags’ poorest performance of the season so far.
“We didn’t play well,” he said. “We had too many that didn’t turn up. I was disappointed with the performance but I still feel we should have got something from the game.
“They scored from two of our mistakes, not picking up from a corner and a counter-attack where we gave away a pen, again that’s a mistake.
“We created probably five or six good chances, so on another day we would get at least a draw and maybe even a win. But it would have camouflaged a poor performance.
“We have played really well in every game this season, even the ones against Formartine when we didn’t win. So we were maybe due a bad one. We are disappointed but we will learn from it.”
Stewart revealed that summer signing Lewis Dunbar is leaving Buckie without making a competitive start for the club.
“He wants to play and he was only on the bench. He’s been out of football for two years with an injury and with Covid.
“Fair play to him, he didn’t want to just sit and be a squad player. I told him to wait and he would get his opportunity but he wants to play football.
“I will only keep people at Buckie that want to be here and he wants to play football and go elsewhere to get that and I’ve no issue with that.”
The Jags' injuries are also beginning to take their toll, with Stewart considering bringing Marcus Goodall back from his loan at Huntly.
Striker Adam MacLeod’s knee injury will keep him out for several weeks while Scott Adams, Lewis Mackinnon and Hamish Munro are among a few squad members nursing strains.
“It’s a bad knee injury for Adam. Not bad enough to need an operation we don’t think but probably the level down from that, which means there’s a bit of recovery time needed.
“It’s ligament damage but the physio doesn’t think it’s really serious so he just needs to take his time and come back stronger and hopefully we will have him back before Christmas time.”
Stewart is relishing Wednesday’s top-of-the-table match against Fraserburgh.
“Fraserburgh right now are looking like the best and strongest team in the league, but we want to be up there challenging them and I think we are more than capable of doing that.”
