Caolan McAleer: Saturday wasn’t good enough
Morton winger Caolan McAleer says Saturday’s performance away at Queen’s Park wasn’t good enough and that the squad were left disappointed in themselves both as individuals and a collective.
The Ton’s first visit to Hampden in over 13 years ended in a 2-0 defeat at the weekend as goals from Spiders pair Adam Cummins and David Galt eliminated them from the Irn-Bru Cup at the third round stage.
And McAleer told gmfc.net: “Obviously Saturday wasn’t good enough from us. They were just the better team on the day, they worked harder and they deserved to win. That is the bottom line – we just never performed.
“At the end of the day, it’s 11 versus 11 and they wanted it more. The boys are gutted and disappointed, and disappointed in ourselves with our own performances because every one of us was poor.
“Every man didn’t do enough and after a game like that you’re disappointed in your own performance and the team effort. You have a look at yourself and think: ‘Right, what could I have done better?’ and then take those things away and work on them and not let it happen again.”
The frustration of losing to lower league opponents was compounded by the fact that they have already shown themselves to be capable in cup competitions this term by beating the likes of Kilmarnock, a match in which the 23-year-old played 75 minutes, and Hamilton Accies in the Betfred Cup.
He added: “We know we can beat the bigger teams so it’s disappointing to lose to a team that’s in a lower division, but they did a lot better than us and it shows us that we need to perform every game and can’t just perform against the big teams, or vice versa.
“You want to win every game when you’re a football player and it’s disappointing to lose in any competition no matter what cup it is. You want to get a good momentum of winning games, getting into a habit.”
The Sinclair Street side now turn their attentions back to league duty with a fixture against Ayr United at Somerset Park, and the former Partick Thistle, East Fife and Airdrie man is expecting a battle.
McAleer said: “We have a big game this weekend and we want to bounce back and prove a point again. It will be a tough game and one we have to try and take the three points from.
“I played against Ayr a good four or five times over the course of my spells at East Fife and Airdrie and it’s not the easiest place to go to. It’s always a hard game when you go there. I can’t imagine there will be much football played. It will probably be hard hitting and physical game that both teams really want to win.”
