DUMBARTON manager Stevie Aitken insists he is not panicking despite the Sons going eight games without a win.

Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Dundee United leaves Sons two points clear of Championship bottom side St Mirren having played a game more.

With Saints expected to improve under new manager Jack Ross and Dunfermline, with a vastly superior budget, the next team closest to Sons in the table, Dumbarton remain favourites for relegation.

However, Aitken is convinced Sons have deserved more than the points tally they have amassed and the eight-point gap to Ayr United, the only other part-time team in the league, is not a concern for him just yet.

He said: “I think we deserved more than the six points we got. The Morton game we should’ve won – we had a goal wrongly disallowed – the Falkirk game we should have got something from, we could probably have beaten Queen of the South and St Mirren.

“We’re in a rut which we always knew could happen. There’s a big club like St Mirren behind us and Dunfermline, with the budget they have, just ahead of us.”

“It’s not a 20-point gap and we still have to play them (Ayr) three times. Ayr United have been able to go and sign Gary Harkins and Conrad Balatoni from Dundee and Kilmarnock, we couldn’t do that.

“People compare us to them because they’ve just come up but they have full-time players. We’re only 10 games in and we still have to play all the teams around us three times, we’re certainly not worried about it at this stage.

“We just need to ask for a bit more from the players and hopefully start taking some more points.

Meanwhile, Aitken revealed he will have little room for manoeuvre in his budget when the transfer window opens in January so players will have to leave if he is to make significant acquisitions.

But two deals he is keen to do is to extend the loans of Celtic midfielder Joe Thomson and Aberdeen full back Daniel Harvie.

He said: “We’ve not got the finances that other clubs have so we can’t just keep adding to the squad. Possibly some players will leave and some will come in.

“We’ve worked hard to get the squad we have and we’re quite happy with where it is at.

“Joe and Daniel have been excellent since they came in so we’ll speak to their clubs nearer the time to see what the situation is but I’d like to keep them.”