KELTY HEARTS boss Kevin Thomson has urged his players to move on from their Scottish Cup exit and focus on winning the League Two title.

The New Central Park side, appearing in the last 16 of the competition for the first time, found St Mirren too big a hurdle to climb as they went out on the back of a 4-0 defeat.

Having disposed of holders St Johnstone in the previous round, hopes were high among the 608-strong travelling support – who Thomson described as “superb” – that they could upset another Premiership club.

READ MORE: Boss eyes league success after 'harsh' cup scoreline

Despite giving as good as they got, they trailed at half-time to Alex Greive’s header, and fell further behind four minutes after the restart thanks to Jordan Jones’ superb strike.

A double from Greg Kiltie completed the victory for the Buddies, and a scoreline Thomson felt was harsh on his team, who now face two crucial games in the space of three days.

This weekend, they go to nearest challengers Forfar Athletic, who are 10 points adrift, before hosting Cowdenbeath in a rearranged derby clash on Tuesday evening, and the Kelty boss said: “We’ve got a long way to go but the harsh reality is that’s our objective, League Two. It wasn’t winning the Scottish Cup as a League Two team.

“We will dust the boys down, we will assess the squad injury-wise, and we’ll look forward to Forfar next week.

“I’m delighted with the boys. We’re not going to play against St Mirren every week; it’s just the way it is. But, at the same time, I’ve got a group of players that have got the personality that they want to try and have a go.

“We said all week that we would try and have a go. I’m not so sure it was as comfortable as they would make out but, at the same time, we need to understand where we’re at. I want the boys to want to feel that they can beat these kind of teams, I want the boys to feel that, no matter who we’re playing, we’ve got the mentality that we’re going to have a go.

“We’ll always get beat. The best teams in the world get beat. Unfortunately, we got a wee bit of a sore one today, so we need to take it on the chin, move on, and make sure we do ourselves justice in League Two.

“The harsh reality is we’ve got boys, part-time footy players that are working 9-5, Monday to Friday, playing against international players. Sometimes the gulf in class, especially at the top end of the pitch, is something you need to take on the chin.”

Thomson was shorn of the likes of Scott Hooper, Dougie Hill, Daniel Finlayson and Harrison Clark at the weekend, and he admitted he is looking for reinforcements to aid their title push.

He continued: “We’ve had a wee bit of bad luck, as it’s been through the course of the season, so we’ll assess it, see if there’s anyone available to see if we can bring in to help the lads get over the line.”

On the travelling fans, Thomson added: “They were superb. I’m sure they’re proud of the boys, I’m sure they know where we’re at, and ultimately we came up against a good team.”