Glenrothes FC boss John Martin explains many reasons behind his team's 7-0 league hammering at Haddington Athletic

Fourth-bottom Glens – who next play a vital home league game against third bottom Luncarty tomorrow (Tuesday), kick-off 6.45pm – now face a major battle to avoid the bottom three places and relegation.

“We went to Haddington knowing it was going to be tough because we had a lot of boys out with suspensions, holidays and injuries,” Martin said. "So we took five of our under-20s through. We only had two subs and they were both under-20s as well.

"We set our plan out to try and catch them on the counter attack. In the first 15 minutes the plan was working until we got Blair Smart (who was playing at centre-half) sent off.

"I thought the red card was soft because it was right on the halfway line and there were probably another couple of boys who would have got back and covered for Blair. It was a hard one to take.

"It was blowing a gale, Blair kind of got caught underneath the ball, it bounced awkwardly and he kind of pushed his arm out.

“But there was a lot of ground to cover before their striker got to our goal so it wasn’t a goalscoring opportunity in my eyes.

"It was tough after the sending off because we were just hemmed in and we were constantly soaking up pressure. Fair play to the young boys who came on, they did their part but it was always going to be an uphill battle.”

Looking ahead to his team facing a Luncarty side who are two points behind Glenrothes with two games in hand, Martin added: “It's the biggest game of the season so far, definitely.

"The players know that. We said that to the boys after the Haddington game.

“In my eyes it’s a must win game. We’ve got six games left and I’m looking to take nine points as I think that will keep us in the league."

Glens have a home League Cup second round tie against Harthill Royal this Saturday with kick-off at 2.30pm. The winners are away to Broxburn Athletic next Tuesday, kick-off 7.30pm.

Meanwhile, Glens’ Fife rivals Thornton Hibs recorded their 13th consecutive win in the East of Scotland League second division via a 4-1 away success against Stirling University at Ochilview last Friday night.

The match marked Craig Gilbert’s 200th league win as Hibs gaffer, with doubles by Robbie Hall and Garry Thomson.

Thornton, second with 56 points from 22 games, were away to Newburgh after we went to press on Tuesday. They make a League Cup second round trip to Hill of Beath Hawthorn this Saturday.