The defeat followed on from a 3-2 win over Cumbernauld last Wednesday, and McAulay was pleased with his side’s performances in both ties.

He said: “I was disappointed with the result on Saturday, but I can’t fault their commitment or their effort. We never got the rub of the green at all on Saturday with the amount of chances we had and we should’ve had a penalty for a handball. It was just one of those days.

“We were by far the better team but things didn’t go for us in front of goal.

“Against Cumbernauld it was a similar performance but we managed to get the goals in that game. We asked the boys for a response after losing to Largs the previous week and they gave us one.” After extended cup runs this year — particularly their run to the Scottish Cup quarter-final — Whe Ho now face a fixture pile up in their remaining league fixtures.

From April 11 to the final league game on May 2, Yoker will play eight games, starting with tonight’s (Wednesday) tie with Pollok at Holm Park.

It is a situation that concerns McAulay and to deal with it he plans to rotate his squad.

He said: “We will be looking to chop and change the team, we have everyone fit which is good. The fitness levels yesterday were pretty good so I think we will be able to handle it.” Turn to page 51 for match reports from Yoker’s last two ties.