Wishaw got their first draw in the West of Scotland Second Division at Craigmark Burntonians on Saturday, and boss Martin O’Neil hopes it’s a step in the right direction.

The Lanarkshire side could have taken a valuable win, but had a last-minute ‘goal’ chalked off for a foul on the Craigmark keeper.

But O’Neil says they’ll take the point and try to build on it as they head for St Anthony’s on Saturday, on a synthetic surface that he hopes suits Wishaw.

He said: “After recent weeks it’s probably a point earned, and I was pleased with the performance.

“We changed the shape of the team and tried to make ourselves a bit harder to beat.

“Maybe as a consequence of that we weren’t as threatening as we would like to be, moving forward, but we actually had a goal disallowed in the last minute for an infringement on the goalkeeper, which was a wee bit harsh.

Wishaw nearly grabbed a vital win but had a 'goal' chalked off for a foul on the Craigmark goalkeeper
Wishaw nearly grabbed a vital win but had a 'goal' chalked off for a foul on the Craigmark goalkeeper

“But a draw was probably a fair result, and we were really pleased that we had a clean sheet, which is something to build on.

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“You’ve got to start picking up points. We got one, it could have been three, but I think it was a fair result and really gives the guys a wee bit of confidence.”

Second-bottom Wishaw hope to close the gap on 12th-placed Ants with a win on Saturday, and O’Neil hopes to welcome back some key players.

He said: “Saturday’s game will be on the synthetic pitch, which I think might suit us a wee bit.

Boss Martin O'Neill was pleased with the point gained
Boss Martin O'Neill was pleased with the point gained

“It’s a totally different game. The beauty of this league is that all the games are different. You have different opposition with different strengths and weaknesses.

“You go on to the astro on Saturday, and it probably gives you a chance to play a wee bit more football.

“We were really up against it on Saturday. We had probably four or five out, and we haven’t got a big squad, so to get that point was really pleasing.

“We should have two or three of them back for this Saturday, so I think we’re all of the opinion that we will be in a better position to pick points up, which will hopefully be the case on Saturday.”

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