The ‘Lie had been on a six match unbeaten run before their visit to Ayrshire but that was ended after a 1-0 defeat. Irvine Meadow have been in imperious form this year, Saturday’s win preserved their perfect league record. However Potter insists that offers no consolation for the squad.

He said: “We have actually come away gutted. We thought the boys put in a great shift and were actually on top for a lot of the game — we just didn’t get that bit of luck in front of goal that we needed.

“We’re proud of the team that they went and stood up to them. We took the game to them we didn’t sit back and defend, we had the ball for large parts of the game.” “It is a sore one for the boys to take but we just need to get ready for Cumnock next week. If they keep giving us that level of work rate and attitude we’ll be fine.” Potter thinks there are plenty of positives to take from yesterday for Arthurlie — especially considering their other performances against the league’s bigger sides this year.

He said: “We’ve had two close games with Irvine Meadow and won against Auchinleck Talbot. They’re probably the two best sides in the league and we’ve more than matched both of them.

“If we keep that level of performance we’d expect to get points against the rest of the teams.” A home tie against Cumnock on Saturday looks like the perfect opportunity for Arthurlie to get back on track — Cumnock sit second bottom of the league having picked up just six points from their first 10 games.

Despite that Potter is taking nothing for granted.

He said: “We know what our league is like, everyone will have a go at each other. We need to keep performing they way we have been. If we do that we should win the game but if you drop your standards a bit in this league you get punished.”