Rob Roy boss Maxwell frustrated by stop-start season so far

The Kirkintilloch side have struggled with a succession of injuries which have severely disrupted Maxwell’s plans.

The Rabs boss had hoped they were on the way up the ladder after successive wins over Pollok and Kilwinning.

But on Saturday they encountered another ‘snake’ as they slithered to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Kilbirnie.

The Rabs boss admitted: “It was very frustrating. I don’t think we performed great overall but we did enough to win the game.

“In the first half we sat off them a wee bit. I’m not making excuses but we had 10 players unavailable and we could only play a certain formation because we only had one striker available.

“I don’t think we really adjusted to that but we created some good chances in the first half, lost a scrappy goal and then it was just one of those days.

“We were denied two stonewall penalties, it was just incredible we never got them.

“We plugged away in the second half, dominated territorially and had all the chances bar they had a couple of breakaways but just couldn’t score.

“I could see the disappointment in their faces. They knew it was a good opportunity to spin three wins in a row and they’ve let that go by not playing to the levels they’ve been playing at in the last few weeks.”

Next up for Rob Roy is a home game with Glenafton on Saturday. And while Maxwell may have a couple of players back in contention, he knows he will be nowhere near full strength.

He said: “It’s been unbelievable and it’s not just injuries, we’ve had boys getting illnesses the night before and it’s tough on the players. You’re changing formations and asking them to play in positions alien to them.

“They’re trying to get rhythm in their game by staying injury-free and then they get an injury and they’re not training for a couple of weeks and feel as if they’re back to square one.

“It’s like the old snakes and ladders. I feel for them, they’re a good bunch of lads.”