JOHNSTONE Burgh boss Jamie McKim believes his side gave themselves too much work to do as they were knocked out of the Scottish Junior Cup on Saturday.

Kirkintilloch Rob Roy ran out 3-1 winners at Keanie Park to book themselves into the quarter-finals.

The Premier Division outfit took an early lead after just nine minutes but Burgh equalised just after the half-hour mark through Danny McBeth as he forced the ball over the line from close range.

Then followed what proved to be a devastating couple of minutes as Rob Roy restored their lead 60 seconds later and two minutes after they added a third, with both of the goals coming from corner-kicks.

Burgh looked for a route back in but couldn’t find a way to goal and whilst McKim was left disappointed with the goals his side gave away, he refused to be too harsh on his depleted squad.

Speaking to Gazette Sport, he said: “We had a number of players missing through injury, suspension and being cup-tied out of the squad of 24. There were 11 before Saturday that we knew wouldn’t be available and two fitness tests on Saturday morning were failed so we had 13, which for a club with our resources is very difficult.

“That doesn’t take away from my disappointment at the goals we lost. They were gifts and they didn’t have to work overly hard.

“We haven’t lost two goals from set pieces all season, never mind in one game, so it was a bit uncharacteristic. The two goals right after one another left us a mountain to climb.

“Although Rob Roy were the better team and deserved their win it showed that we were missing so many. If we had our full squad we would have given them a much better game – I’m not saying we’d have beaten them but it would have been a better game.

“It’s frustrating to see the cup run come to an end because I believe with the squad we’ve got we could have gone at least one round further. It’s been a positive part of the season and it does a lot for your team building. I’m glad we’ve been in it and had a good run but now we need to put all our attention on the league.”

Burgh welcome Lugar Boswell Thistle to Keanie Park this Saturday in their final home game of 2021 and McKim is looking forward to welcoming several first-team players back.

He added: “I think six or seven will be available again which is a huge difference for us.”

Kick-off is at 1.30pm.