KELTY HEARTS are ready to “wipe the slate clean” after their unbeaten League Two start came to an end and maintain their focus on winning the title.

Assistant manager Kevin McDonald has said that the New Central Park squad have their sights set on starting another run that can take them towards promotion, starting this weekend at Stirling Albion.

Boxing Day’s loss at Annan Athletic was the first for Kevin Thomson’s side in the league this season but their hopes of bouncing back in their first scheduled game of 2022 were dashed when Sunday’s visit of Cowdenbeath was postponed.

COVID-19 issues within the the Blue Brazil camp saw the game called off hours before kick-off but results elsewhere ensured Kelty remain seven points clear at the summit, with two games in hand.

Ahead of the trip to Forthbank, a fixture that kicks off at 1pm on Saturday, Kelty saw on-loan midfielder Connor Barron, recalled by his parent club but they have brought in Livingston teenager Harrison Clark – who spent the first part of the campaign on loan at Championship leaders Arbroath – as his replacement.

Ross Philp and Alfie Agyeman, until 2023, and Robbie McNab, to 2024, have also penned new deals with the club, while last month’s postponed clash at Elgin City has been rearranged for January 25.

With a Scottish Cup tie with holders St Johnstone to come this month, a busy schedule awaits, but McDonald told Press Sport this week that the players were ready to get back on form after the setback at Annan.

“Obviously, the unbeaten run became more of a focus for the outside than trying to win the league,” he said.

“That wipes that away and we can just concentrate on trying to keep the lead at the top and getting closer to the finish line.

“The focus at the start of the season was to try and win the league and that never changed. The longer the unbeaten run went, that became something that we spoke about. Now that’s away, we can wipe the slate clean.

“We’ve got the second half of the season – we’ve still got another 19 games to go I think it is – so we can start again and focus on trying to put another wee run together.”

A late defeat for second-top Forfar at Elgin on Sunday saw them fail to take advantage of Kelty’s game being postponed and, on maintaining their lead, McDonald continued: “It’s nice, but it’s one of those where you’d probably rather have the points on the board, with Forfar having the games in hand, than the opposite way round.

“It’ll be nice when we get the games played and, if we can win the games in hand, it’ll be all good. If not, nothing really changes.”

Kelty face a Binos side that they defeated 3-1 in August, but who drew 1-1 at New Central Park in October.

Since then, though, they lost seven on the spin before Sunday’s victory at Stenhousemuir, and are now under the charge of ex-Pars midfielder, and East Fife boss, Darren Young.

“The first game we played up there we were really convincing; one of the best away performances we’ve had,” McDonald added.

“The home game was a bit stuffy; they were really on form and second in the league at the time.

“They beat Stenny 2-1 on Sunday, and obviously they’ve got a new manager, which is another new thing. Maybe he’ll change things and play different, I don’t know, but we’re expecting a tough game.”