Elgin City boss Gavin Price insists a 3-0 defeat for fielding an ineligible player in the Premier Sports Cup won’t detract from the way his team are shaping up for the season.
The Moray club have been fined and given a 3-0 defeat by the SPFL for playing defender Darryl McHardy when suspended.
The Black and Whites drew 0-0 with the Honest Men at Somerset Park on Saturday, with Ayr winning the Group F encounter 4-3 on penalties.
McHardy was meant to be serving a one-match suspension, but the defender was listed on the bench before being brought on as a sub after 33 minutes in place of Jake Dolzanski.
Keiran Carty, the club’s general manager, admitted responsibility for the error which led to McHardy being involved and apologised to everyone who worked hard for the draw at Ayr.
He vowed to personally refund all Elgin fans who made the trip to Somerset Park.
Elgin admitted breaching SPFL rules and, following a meeting of a sub committee of the SPFL board, City have been reprimanded and warned about future conduct, awarded a 3-0 defeat and fined £1,000 with £500 suspended until June 30 2023 pending any further breaches of SPFL player regulations.
Price’s side, who are now on zero points, return to League Cup action on Saturday when they face Annan Athletic at Galabank before hosting St Johnstone on Tuesday.
Price determined to respond on park
Price explained the importance in not letting the mistake impact negatively on the strong pre-season work, with the bigger picture focusing on kicking off League 2 season against East Fife at the end of the month.
He said: “It is unfortunate, of course, but it really doesn’t change a lot in terms of our preparation throughout this League Cup period.
“It won’t take away from our performance against Ayr.
“The idea of the League Cup generally speaking is, although we’re trying our best to progress, to prepare for the start of our league season on July 30.
“These are different levels of teams we are playing against and that remains the objective. I won’t lose any sleep over what’s happened.
“It’s an honest mistake and you learn from that. There’s no point letting a cloud hang over the club because of it. It was an honest admin error, nothing more sinister than that.
“We lick our wounds and get on with it. The four cup ties are about getting game-time at a competitive level and we test ourselves against good opposition. Nothing’s changed.
“We got off to a good start with a good performance at Ayr and we want to back that up in the last few games.”
Gunning for three points at Annan
And Price is keen to get one over Annan in the cup before they face them next term in League 2.
Annan drew with St Johnstone before beating them on penalties to top the group with five points overall.
He added: “There is not much we don’t know about Annan.
“I watched them against St Johnstone this week and they performed very well. It will be tough, but it’s also a big game for them, sitting top of the section.
“The League Cup remains wide open for us and if we can get the result it might bring us back into it. Let’s see where it takes us.”
