That was after McLeod had seen his side hit for six by Buckie Thistle at the weekend.

Strathspey were well in the game at Victoria Park until midfielder Joe Hardie was red carded in the 55th minute with the visitors trailing by two goals to one.

McLeod said: "The sending off changed the game. We went one down through a goal that was a bit of a mix up but we got it back to one-all when Ronnie Jones created space for himself before taking it round their goalie and putting it in.

"It was pretty even at that stage and there wasn't much between the teams at all. Then, just before half time, Buckie's Charlie Brown managed to get in between Murray Ross and Craig Ireland to poke the ball in for what was a real sloppy goal to lose.

"We were looking to keep competing in what were horrendous conditions for both teams in the second half, but just after half time, Joe dived in with a tackle and got himself another yellow card which put us down to 10 men.

"More or less right away, they got a free kick that Bob Duncan swung in and Chris Bowles got caught off his line and it went in.

"From then on, there was only going to be one winner."

He added: "We dropped another boy off and went with one up front but the ball was coming back at us all of the time.

"We weren't at the races in the latter stages and just seemed to throw in the towel when the third Buckie goal went in.

"We had a chance just before half time to get it back to 2-2 with a move down the left hand side, but their goalkeeper made a fantastic save from Ronnie Jones.

"The sending off definitely changed the game, because it is hard enough for us to go to places like Buckie with 11 men, never mind trying to compete with 10."

McLeod is hoping for an improvement in his side's discipline ahead of the bottom-of-the-table double header against Fort William.

He said: "Our discipline has got to be better and it is something we are going to have to talk to the boys about.

"There is no way we can compete with 10 men because every time we have had players sent off we have been beaten.

"It's not good enough and we have players who are only a few yellow cards away from another suspension.

Looking ahead to part one of the two games against Fort William at Seafield Park on Saturday, McLeod said: "It is a real cup final for us, although I am sure Fort William will be saying the same thing.

"It will be a cracker. It is a big game for us and we should have Nicholas Mochan and David Ritchie back although I am not sure if Jamie Rodgers will be available, which would be a miss for us because he has been playing well.

"It is a real chance for us and is definitely the biggest game we've had this season, if not since the club started.

"Fort William have already had a win this season but from our point of view, if we can beat them then we will go above them.

"We will have a couple of good training sessions this week to get the boys ready for it and, hopefully, there will be another big turn out from the supporters, which I am sure there will be."

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