ARDROSSAN Winton Rovers boss Sandy MacLean has admitted he got his tactics wrong in two crucial games, which played a major part in their failure to secure promotion.

Winton went down 4-3 on February 4 to a Darvel side who at the weekend clinched promotion to the Super League and six weeks later they were defeated 2-1 by Whitletts Vics, who ultimately missed out on promotion.

And the losses effectively ended their challenge.

MacLean said: "On reflection I think I got my tactics wrong on those days as instead of going all out for goals we should have been more conservative and counter-attacked. If we had even taken something from both of those games that could have made all the difference and we could have been promoted."

However the Winton manager was encouraged on Friday night as his team secured a place in the quarter-finals of the Ayrshire Weekly Press Cup.

They defeated derby rivals Saltcoats Victoria 5-1 in a one-sided second round tie under the lights at Winton Park.

Their reward is a last-eight showdown away to Auchinleck Talbot or Troon on a date to be confirmed.

MacLean said: "It will be good to test ourselves against a quality side - whether it's Troon or Auchinleck, as both have great set-ups. We expect a difficult game and the Premier Division side will be favourites but I won the cup with Largs and we will give it our best shot and you never know what will happen in the cup."

The boss aims to strengthen his squad in the summer and said: "I would like to bring in some new faces and will see how things go over the summer."