Stirling Albion manager Steven Whittaker described himself as “gutted” after his side conceded a 93rd-minute penalty to lose 1-0 against Dundee United in their Premier Sports Cup group stage opener at Forthbank. The spot-kick, converted by Zac Sapsford, denied the Binos a hard-earned point against Premiership opposition.
Defensive Discipline Praised
Despite the defeat, Whittaker praised his team's commitment and defensive organisation. “I think we come out of the game with a lot of credit for the way we performed and the discipline we showed, the endeavour to keep United out,” he told the Observer. “We knew it would be the case that we wouldn’t have a lot of possession and it was about minimising them in certain areas of the pitch and we did well with that. We defended our box superbly and just gutted for the players just to lose the game on that little moment with the penalty at the end.”
Fresh Injury Concerns
The match also brought a significant injury blow. Player-coach Josh Mullin, a summer arrival, was forced off in the first half after a clash with Brandon Forbes left him bloodied. Whittaker confirmed Mullin is likely to miss several weeks with a jaw injury. “Josh will be a massive player for us and we were delighted to get him in player-coach and he’s taken a sore one,” he said. This adds to the squad's woes, as midfielder Craig Brown is already sidelined long-term with a knee ligament injury.
Looking Ahead to Spartans
Stirling Albion now face a quick turnaround, travelling to Edinburgh to take on fellow League Two side Spartans. Spartans finished second in the league last season before losing in the playoff semi-final to Clyde. Whittaker acknowledged the different challenge ahead. “It will be a more evenly contested game and we’re away from home, so that brings a different challenge as well,” he said. “We have to recover and get over today as quickly as we can, there was a lot of physical output put into the match that we have to try and be ready to go again against Spartans. They had a game and so they will have had an output and that makes us level on that, but we just need to regroup and reset.”
