Elgin City manager Gavin Price feels the Black and Whites must learn when to sacrifice their attacking flair in pursuit of more League 2 points.
City’s focus is now solely on the league, having seen strong runs in the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup and Scottish Cup both ended in recent weeks.
With Elgin the third-highest scorers in the league Price is encouraged by his side’s forward play, but he reckons an over-eagerness to attack has cost his side on occasion this season.
Price, whose side are fifth in the table at present, said: “Game management is maybe something we have got to be better at.
“It’s probably why we have not got as many points as we should do at this stage of the season.
“We have got to find ugly ways to get through certain parts of games at times. That’s something we have got to look at.
“I think we are a credit to how we believe in playing football in an attacking style, but at the same time we have got to be mindful it’s about winning games at the end of the day.
“Sometimes you have got to do the ugly part of the game to get through it. At the start of the second half against Alloa on Saturday it was maybe a time to get them turned and be a bit more direct, and not overplay in our own half.
“We were maybe guilty of overplaying at times and it cost us.
“We’ve got to be mindful that teams will play like that against us. We have got to find a bit of balance and do the uglier side of the game better.”
Despite running higher league opposition close in their last two cup fixtures, Price was left frustrated at not progressing further in either tournament.
Price added: “I think it was an opportunity missed. It maybe shows how far we have come in the last two games against Raith Rovers and Alloa, in that we are disappointed to be put out of both cups.
“I felt there was more for us in both games.
“In the Alloa game we looked comfortable at half time – we were well on top but we really didn’t manage the first 10 or 15 minutes of the game well in the second half when we knew they would come out flying.
“We will learn from that as a group, and hopefully move on, but the performance level in the last two games has been high at times.
“We’ve got to take confidence from that going into the league.”
