Stenhousemuir boss Gary Naysmith vows to learn lessons from 4-1 loss to Ayr United

That defeat leaves Stenny second from bottom of their Premier Sports Cup group, on three points from as many fixtures, with a trip to second-placed neighbours Falkirk up next this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm.

Midfielder Ross Taylor put the hosts in front at Ochilview Park in midweek with six minutes on the clock, but George Oakley equalised for their third-placed visitors from South Ayrshire just two minutes later and Frankie Musonda, Anton Dowds and Jay Henderson added further goals on 26, 56 and 65‎ minutes respectively.

“It was a really good start. We got a good goal from Ross – it was pleasing to see him score again – but then we conceded a really poor goal straight away,” Naysmith, Stenny’s manager since the start of January, told their social media feeds afterwards.

“I think that just got Ayr’s tails up and for the rest of the game it was a difficult evening for us.

“Although there were a lot of things I think we could have done better, I was mightily impressed by Ayr.

“They pressed well, they were a threat in open play, they were a threat at set-plays, they had good rotation and they thoroughly deserved their victory.

“It was a tough evening for us.

“That was probably the hardest 90 minutes that we’ve had since I’ve been at the club and we’ve played St Johnstone, Livingston and Dundee United.”

They might not have appreciated it on the night but Tuesday’s game will prove to be a valuable learning curve for Stenny as they get ready for Scottish League One following their promotion as fourth-tier champions this year, reckons Naysmith.

“There are certain things we need to learn. If you look at their goals, with most of them we could have done better, so we need to speak about that,” said the 45-year-old.

“I thought Ayr were really, really good, so congratulations to them on their performance, but we need to go away and work on how we can do better when we come up against better opposition.”