KEVIN Haynes has urged his Dunbar United side to put their focus on the league and move up the table.
The Seasiders have enjoyed a memorable Scottish Cup debut, with victories over Broxburn Athletic and Camelon.
But the Road to Hampden came to an end for Haynes and his team on Saturday when they lost 2-1 to Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale in a second-round replay.
The cup fixtures mean league business has been put on the backburner, with some of the teams around Dunbar having played as many as three games more.
Haynes and his team face Dundonald Bluebell, who are also on 19 points, on Saturday and the manager was keen to get back into the winning habit.
He said: “That’s the bread and butter.
“We need to start looking up the league. It is so competitive and so tight, the teams that were stranded at the bottom are no longer stranded. They are winning games and closing gaps.
“It is just so condensed from probably fourth or fifth down.
“It is really competitive and we need to just focus on ourselves now.
“We need to focus on winning games, picking up points and staying clear of any potential danger of relegation.”
Dunbar will need to play midweek fixtures in order to catch up on the number of games played by the teams around them.
Haynes, who previously played for Dunbar, was confident that the club had it in them to pick up the necessary points.
He said: “Of course, you would rather have points on the board than dealing with games in hand. There is not much we can do about it, though, and that is just where we are and at the stage of playing a couple of games in a week.
“That is probably because of the cup success and it just goes hand in hand. It is fine, though, and we have got a squad of 20 who are all capable footballers.”
The cup journey was ended at Ainslie Park on Saturday, with LTHV joining Sauchie and Tranent in representing the East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) in the third round of the historic competition.
Dunbar and LTHV had drawn 1-1 in the first match at New Countess Park, which featured three penalties.
This time, the hosts were given another spot kick, while Dunbar were reduced to 10 men after Jamie Devlin was sent off.
The Dunbar manager was not happy with either decision and felt they played a key role in terms of who progressed.
He said: “The penalty was definitely not a penalty in my opinion.
“I did not think there was enough contact.
“I think the guy has played it and hoped for a contact and the referee has bought it.
“I think that we probably had two penalty shouts and the referee did not even look to them or consider them.”
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