Mark McLaughlin has bemoaned Clyde’s lack of consistency as they failed to achieve their target of winning the League Two title.

The Bully Wee had to endure East Fife clinching the league trophy on their own ground last Saturday, with McLaughlin admitting that Gary Naysmith’s side were worthy champions.

He says though that the experience has made Clyde all the more determined to make sure they keep their promotion dream alive through the playoffs.

“East Fife deserved to win the league and they’ve been the most consistent team,” he said.

“The game last week was a tight game and there wasn’t much in it. I think on our day we’re as good as East Fife, but the league doesn’t lie.

“They’ve been the most consistent and that’s been our problem this season. We’ve not been consistent enough and we’ve not been ruthless enough in front of goal.

“We’ve also conceded goals that have been sloppy and lost to teams that we probably shouldn’t have.

“I think it’s massive for Clyde to be in the playoffs. Our aim this year was to win the league and that’s not happened for us.

“We have to make sure that we get this playoff position, and then push to get up through that method.

“It’s not an easy feat, the team from League One will be favourites having played in the higher league all season.

“Getting into the playoffs is so important, but we know even that isn’t going to be easy.”

The first obstacle to second-placed Clyde securing their playoff position is a trip to take on Queen’s Park this afternoon, the side currently just one point below them in third.

With a victory guaranteeing a top-four finish though, McLaughlin says that they are focused on the task at hand.

“We know we need to go to Hampden and get the win,” he said.

“If we win this game that’s us there, but with the way this season has gone there could yet be a few twists and turns yet.

“The most important thing is winning this game, and we know we’ll have to be at the top of our game.

“It’s going to be difficult, we’ve not done well against Queen’s Park really this season.

“They’ve taken seven out of nine points against us, and they’ll be confident on their own patch.

“It’s up to us though to go and prove that we’re the better side. We’ll give them the utmost respect and Gus will have them organised rally well.

“They get stuck in about you and they’ve got a lot of good players, so we know it will be a hard game.

“If you want to get into the playoffs though you have to win these games, and to be honest you don’t want it going down to the last game of the season with Stirling coming to Broadwood.

“That will be hard game too, and they would love the opportunity to try and knock us out of the playoff position with the season we’ve had against them.

“There’s been a bit of niggle there between both clubs, so they would relish that.

“If we can do it this week it would be fantastic, and we’ll be going there to do just that and win the game.

“We can’t look past this game against Queen’s Park, we have to give them the respect they deserve and it’s important that we go all out to win this game.

“After that, we’ll see what happens.”