JOHNSTONE Burgh boss Jamie McKim insists he still has “full belief” in his players, despite a disappointing defeat at Irvine Victoria on Saturday.

McKim’s team lost 3-1 to the Ayrshire outfit, who picked up their first win of the season in the process.

The Keanie Park club have now gone four games without a victory – making it the most difficult spell McKim has faced since arriving at Burgh in 2018.

However, with some key players set to return from injury in the coming weeks, he is hopeful his troops will soon be back to winning ways.

McKim told Gazette Sport: “We need to put a run together. The big bonus is that players are starting to come back and we’re beginning to look stronger.

“I have full belief in my squad. We need a settled run where we can get a consistency in selection and everyone playing well together. We will go on a run of winning games again.

“If we string a few wins together, we can climb a few places but that is down to us.

“We can’t afford to keep going the way we are because, at some point, it’ll be a case of it being too late and we have done too much damage.”

In a hectic start to Saturday’s game, the home side took the lead after just 30 seconds when Sean Cryan’s strike from distance found the net.

Burgh equalised less than two minutes later as a free-kick found its way to Danny McBeth at the back post and the big centre-half provided an accurate finish by drilling the ball home.

Irvine regained their lead 10 minutes into the second period when Shane Jackson finished neatly after being sent through on goal.

Burgh threw more bodies forward as the game edged towards full-time but this gave the hosts the chance to hit their opponents on the break and they took their opportunity with five minutes to go as Jackson bagged his second of the day after advancing from the right and slotting the ball under Kyle Pirie.

McKim’s troops will now focus on Saturday’s trip to Dundee St James in the second round of the Scottish Cup – and he admits it will be a welcome distraction from league business.

“Our best performance of the season so far came in the previous round of the cup, so it’s a good opportunity,” said McKim.

“I can’t wait for it because it’s the next chance to put things right.”