East Kilbride boss Mick Kennedy insists his side were denied 'two stonewall penalties' in their 3-0 defeat at Montrose, but he admitted the Gable Endies caught them by surprise with how they shaped up for Saturday's clash.
Kilby went down at Links Park as they suffered their first defeat of the League One season. A first-half penalty from Gary Oliver and a stunning free-kick just before the break had the hosts in control, and Harry Craig's strike after 61 minutes consigned Kilby to defeat.
Kennedy concedes Montrose shape was pivotal
While Kennedy had some complaints about the decisions that went against his side, he conceded Montrose's setup played a pivotal part in the outcome of the game.
He told Lanarkshire Live Sport: "To be fair to Montrose, they changed their shape to the same shape Airdrie played [in a 1-1 draw] and similar to how Cove played last week [in a 3-0 EK win].
"We hadn't really prepared for that, to be honest, and we got caught a bit unawares with that. But it was very similar to the Airdrie game where we had loads and loads of possession but didn't really create anything with it and we were a bit vulnerable on the counter attack.
"The penalty - even though I think it is outside the box - I am not sure it changed the game too much. It gave Montrose the lead but they didn't change how they played after that. They didn't go any more defensive or anything.
"But their second goal is an unbelievable finish from Gary. Then the third goal comes after we went full out attack, going 3-5-2 and two wingers play wingbacks and two centre forwards. It was either going to be 2-1 or we'd lose another one, so that was just the way it goes.
"I said last week that Montrose had signed a lot of quality players in the summer and it was always going to click at some point. It's just unfortunate for us that they clicked on Saturday.
"There were two stonewall penalties turned down, which were beyond belief. It is utterly astonishing that we didn't get them, but there you go."
Moffat injury concern
Kilby are now sweating on the fitness of winger Owen Moffat after he had to come off injured following one of the penalty claims.
Kennedy added: "Owen Moffat is in a boot right now. He was one of the ones brought down for one of the stonewall penalties. We will need to assess how he is."
East Kilbride have had to get used to teams sitting in against them this season, with their possession-based brand of football helping them win League Two last term. But Kennedy says they should take that as a compliment.
He added: "It is something we need to get used to. Our possession base is the exact same as it was in League Two - it is in the late 60s, early 70s every week - but we just need to do a wee bit more with it because we are struggling to break teams down.
"Teams giving us that respect is something we can take away from that. Teams are sitting in against us because of the reputation we've built."
Ross County test awaits
This Saturday night EK visit Ross County in a game shown live on BBC Alba. The Staggies have won three from three so far, sitting second in the table, and Kennedy expects a real test from Stuart Kettlewell's men.
He said: "They have real quality to punish us but we always seem to do well more often than not against the bigger teams. I'm not saying it will make the game any easier, but it is 11v11.
"What might assist us a bit is that the game will be more open. I don't think County will sit in against us, that's for sure, so that could help us and enable us because we play very openly, so we won't sit in either."
