GLENAFTON Athletic boss Ryan Caddis says he is looking forward to his side's Scottish Cup test next weekend.

The Loch Park side will host Threave Rovers on Saturday, August 31, in the second preliminary round on the road to Hampden.

And Caddis is hoping the match can act as a springboard for his side, as he looks to build momentum after a tough month of league action.

After starting the West of Scotland Premier Division with a pair of victories, August saw the Glens go winless in their last four matches.

But the Loch Park boss is not despondent and looked to take the positives following a 2-1 defeat away to Beith on Saturday, August 24.

The New Cumnock side had led in the match, with Hugh Kerr notching early in the first half.

But a Paul Frize second half double, either side of a Jared Willet red card, handed Chris Strain's men all three points.

(Image: Stephen Kerr)

Caddis went into the match with seven first team players injured but still left North Ayrshire feeling hard done by not to have taken at least a point.

He said: “It’s been a tough week injury wise, I knew it was going to be the case with a small squad, one or two would have been hard, but seven – you can’t do anything as a coach with that.

“Saturday we went there with seven players missing, I was on the bench, my assistant was on the bench and we had two under 20s on the bench.

“We went 1-0 up early doors and we tried to make it as horrible as possible as we could for Beith."

And on a day where enough was going against him, the Glens boss felt that officiating did not help matters.

He added: “The less I say about the referee the better. I don’t like moaning about refs but it’s hard when I ask my players to go give me the shift they do and it’s wasted by one guy.

“If I pick the wrong team every week I’m going to get the sack, I don’t see why with them making poor decisions constantly they shouldn’t be getting called out on it - but fair play to Beith."

(Image: Stephen Kerr)

Away from the full time result, Caddis felt that he left Bellsdale Park with plenty of positives to carry forward.

He continued: “The whole objective when I came in was changing the feeling about the place, I felt there was a lack of confidence amongst the squad.

“Our strength's got to be our unity, our togetherness, how tight a group we are – and that’s forming.

“We’ve got a good, young, bunch that are going to make mistakes and need to learn fast but they know that.

“I thought on Saturday the young ones in the squad were excellent, so we’ve got a base to build off of.”

And he feels that change in mindset was on display, at a venue which was not a happy hunting ground for the East Ayrshire side last season.

Caddis commented: “There’s definitely a change of mentality at the full club. You look at last year, we went there and got beat 9-0, with the same type of situation as we had there with injuries.

“Saturday we went there, we matched Beith up, and we worked hard. Beith had a lot of the ball and they had chances but had a couple of chances ourselves.

“It was disappointing to leave with nothing, I think we deserved something, but now all focus is on Threave."

(Image: Stephen Kerr)

Caddis hopes to have five of the seven who missed this weekend back in action for Scottish Cup fixture - which he knows is a massive day for the club.

He said: “Saturday is a big occasion for the club, the community and even myself having never managed in the Scottish Cup before.

“It takes away from that league campaign and gives you a wee break from it.

“It’s a totally different feeling leading up to it. I’m looking forward to getting the players in and getting us as prepared as we can.

“Hopefully we can build a wee bit of momentum through the cup games then on to Benburb which is a massive league game to have this early in the season.”