COWDENBEATH boss Liam Fox described Saturday’s performance against Elgin City as ‘completely unacceptable’ and is looking for a massive improvement at Station Park this weekend.

Cowden huffed and puffed without ever really looking like scoring against a City side who also created very little.

And while nothing is ever won or lost in terms of promotion bids in the opening game of the season, Mr Fox let his players know that they will have to up their game if they want to stay in the top team.

He said this week: “Yes it is only the first game and no real reason to panic, but there was a lot wrong with the performance against Elgin.

“The tempo that was there in the pre-season and Betfred Cup-ties was missing and from the early stages of the match it was clear that both sides were very evenly matched and chances were going to be at a premium.

“It was going to take something special to earn a goal and in fairness to them they produced it but with the quality we had out there we should have been able to match it or better it.”

He added: “I have made it clear to the players that no one in this division is going to lie down and let us walk all over them.

“Wins will have to be earned and we must set a much higher tempo from the start to put pressure on teams and create good quality openings.

“No one is panicking but we have to look at where we went wrong in this one and improve on it at Forfar this weekend.”

He made the point that with Elgin having finished runners-up last season they would be a very streetwise League 2 side and to tackle that the tempo had to be a lot higher than was set by Cowdenbeath on Saturday.

Forfar picked up all three points at the weekend so will be confident for this Saturday’s game but Cowden have a pretty good record at Station Park and Mr Fox is looking to continue that.

He went on: “This is a fresh start for the lads and we can and will play a lot better than against Elgin.

“If we can work the ball faster and produce better quality openings then we will have the chance to get the goals we need to win it.”

He is likely to start with fit again Lewis Moore on the left wing and may look to push Dean Brett forward on the right hand side of midfield. However, striker Kris Renton is again suspended and pivot Gerry McLauchlan is still struggling with his rib injury.

Meanwhile Cowden will play Celtic U20s in the Barrs Irn Bru Cup at Central Park on Tuesday August 16th with a 7.45 start.