SALTCOATS Victoria boss Stevie Wilson says his side are making positive strides but a change in mentality is still required.
The Campbell Park manager was speaking after his side's most recent fixture, a 2-2 draw at home to Campbeltown Pupils on Saturday, September 28.
It was a match which Saltcoats were well in control of, having led 2-0 heading into half-time thanks to goals from Ross Ingram and Brandon McEvoy.
However, the Pupils came back in the second half, cutting the deficit from the spot before drawing level with five minutes left on the clock.
No side could find a winner and Wilson was left frustrated at his side dropping two points from such a strong position.
He said: “It was disappointing, to be honest. We started okay, I thought we could have played a bit better first-half but we scored two great goals and go into half-time 2-0 up.
“Second half we didn’t really see it through, I think we have a wee barrier we need to break through mentality wise – but we’re on the right road.
“There are wee turning points in games, we should have killed it off and didn’t.
“It shows how far we’ve come that we’re not happy with a draw now, we were all pretty disappointed."
And Wilson says a change of mentality is what is required to avoid similar scenarios later in the season.
He added: “I just don’t think we know how to handle being in front yet, we need to be able to handle that side of the game.
"I think over the last few years, unfortunately, we have been more comfortable being behind and battling away. We are trying to get that mentality of getting in front, managing the game and seeing it out.
“We’ve had a not bad start to the season, we’ve got a good squad there, we’re getting better but I think we should have about six extra points at this stage.
“We’ve got to learn from it and I can’t be over critical of the players because they’re trying like mad, we just need to get through that mentality barrier, these are small margins.”
Wilson was also keen to take more positives from the game, in particular highlighting the boost an increased Campbell Park attendance gave his men.
He added: “We had a decent crowd on Saturday and that’s a very pleasing thing to see, people are starting to come back and support us.
“Long may that continue and hopefully the people of Saltcoats keep coming out to support us because it does help us.”
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