Irvine Meadow have been left to count the cost of Saturday's shock 4-1 defeat at Cumbernauld - after suffering a double injury blow.
Midfielder Fraser McMillan was stretchered off in the first half of the West of Scotland League Premier Division clash and faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.
Striker Graham Boyd's afternoon was also cut short due to a hip injury which makes him a doubt for this weekend's South Challenge Cup clash against Auchinleck Talbot.
A second half red card for Kyle Faulds also means a suspension is looming for the playmaker, adding to co-bosses Colin Spence and James Latta's woes.
Spence said: "It was a costly defeat for us in more ways than one. Fraser's looks a bad injury. He's waiting to see a fracture specialist but unfortunately I don't think we will be seeing Fraser in action for a while.
"We're hoping Boydy can recover in time for Saturday but at the moment it's wait and see."
Spence admitted that, despite losing Boyd and McMillan, he couldn’t see defeat coming at half-time in Saturday's clash.
Meadow produced a controlled performance with a Del McNab goal giving them a 1-0 lead at the interval.
But the second half was in complete contrast to the first as the hosts scored two goals either side of Fauld's dismissal.
The scoreline could’ve been even worse but Spence refused to blame the heavy Guy’s Meadow pitch or windy conditions.
He said: “We were in full control of the game and should have been further in front at half-time.
“But as soon as we lost the first goal, it was a complete capitulation and to be honest I didn’t see that coming.
“We lost our shape and Cumbernauld could smell blood . They probably could have scored more.
“It’s really hard to put my finger on what went wrong. We’ve put together a really good footballing team this year but we lost here earlier in the season against Rob Roy too.
“The conditions weren’t great but it’s the same for both sides so we can’t use that as an excuse. We maybe need to work on the other side of our game.”
McNab broke the deadlock – and his duck for the club – with a deft header in 27 minutes.
But the hosts hit back with goals from Stephen McDevitt, Liam Gormley, Klark Thomson and David Cameron clinching victory.
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