Dalbeattie Star boss Jordan Williamson insists spirits are still high after back-to-back defeats to the Old Firm’s colts sides.
Star lost 5-0 to Celtic B on Saturday, seven days on from a 5-2 loss to Rangers’ youngsters.
But Williamson said: “Looking from the outside people will think the changing room must be subdued and be negative but it’s the complete opposite.
“I’ve never known a group of boys to still be so positive and driven. These last two fixtures have given them a morale boost as they know they have competed against them and the performance levels have increased compared to the previous games.
“The boys are looking forward to the games coming around and using what we’ve put in place over the last couple of weeks defensively to give them more of a platform to express themselves on.
“We had started well on Saturday and even after going 1-0 down they showed fight and desire.
“We had opportunities to make it 1-1 which would have been against the run of play but we knew that was going to be the case – it was also going to be that we’d have to sit in and look for our opportunities to counter against their quality.
“We were unfortunate to concede a couple of minutes before half-time and it’s taken the wind out of our sails.”
Celtic took the lead when Bruno Davidson squared for Adam Brooks to score.
Jack Currie saw a potential equaliser ruled out for a foul before Bosun Lawal doubled the lead just before the break.
Rocco Vata scored the third early in the second half with Tsoanelo Letsosa thumping home the fourth before Vata rounded off the scoring.
Williamson's side suffered another blow on Tuesday night when they lost 3-1 to Open Goal Broomhill.
Star are back home on Saturday when they host Civil Service Strollers.
Williamson said: “It’s going to be difficult. They’ve picked up good results this season which is no surprise given some of the players they’ve got.
“They’re a team that goes under the radar – they have quality and are well organised but no one really talks about them. We need to make sure we’re focused and give them the respect they deserve.
“We picked up a point at Cowdenbeath and had good performances against the B sides, setting us up to say our season starts now – although it’s bad to say that when you’re six or seven games in.
“We’ve now got experience of games in the league and there’s more of an understanding in the squad of how it works together and what they’ve been up against.”
Monday’s draw for the first round of the Scottish Cup saw Star handed a trip to Lowland League rivals Cumbernauld Colts who beat them 5-2 earlier this season.
“The draw has been kind to us – it seems as if the stronger clubs from the prelim round have avoided each other. We’ve managed to avoid them and some of the higher-placed teams.”
