Elgin City manager Jim Weir has told his players they must take more responsibility after yesterday’s 2-2 draw against Forfar Athletic.
City had come from behind to take a 2-1 advantage against the league leaders, who also had captain Stuart Malcolm sent-off on the hour mark, however the Loons were able to salvage a point through Danny Denholm’s goal five minutes later.
Weir reckons the Black and Whites must show greater leadership if they are to close the gap on Forfar, who remain 11 points clear at the top.
He said: “We recovered well after losing the early goal and I thought we deservedly went in front.
“We had plenty of chances to get the third goal which I really feel would have been enough. There was very little between the two teams.
“Forfar have some good players, middle to front, who create. But when they had a man sent off we should really have gone on to win the game. I didn’t feel we made enough use of the wider areas, we gave possession away too easily, and we paid the price by losing the second goal.
“I’ve been moaning to the players about responsibility and picking up players in the box. We give players a job to do, and when they change it on the pitch we’re going to suffer.
“In conditions like that we need our back four to be strong and vocal and need them to communicate. It’s something we’ve lacked all season, it’s why we’re 11 points behind Forfar and not sitting closer than we are.”
The game was City’s first in more than two weeks, and Weir feels a disrupted winter schedule showed in his side’s display.
He added: “We looked tired. I’m not looking for excuses, but we’ve not had a game since December 17. Our training has been hampered by a lack of facilities, we’ve tried to get as much out of them as we can.
“When they went down to 10 men, with them having had a game and probably having trained, they looked a bit fresher.”