GLENAFTON Athletic boss Paul Paton says his side are now "moving in the right direction" after they earned their place in the fourth round of the Scottish Junior Cup.
The Loch Park outfit made light work of North Region club Deveronside, winning 3-0 in East Ayrshire.
A first half goal from Michael Mullen and strikes in the final 20 minutes from Ross Lindsay and Stephen McLelland were enough to earn Paton his second win since taking charge.
“The win was the most important thing," the manager commented, "and getting into the next round of the cup.
“We’re happy, we’ve been working hard and hopefully things are going in the right direction now.”
Though getting league points on the board will remain the Glens' priority, Paton said a run in the competition would be more than welcomed at Loch Park.
He added: “You are looking to win every single game and it’s a good distraction. As a player I played in the semi-final for the club – so I know how big an occasion it can be.
“We are looking to get as far as we can and hopefully the boys will get to play in some big games.”
Now, Paton is hoping the result can prove to be a springboard for his side, with a massive league match against Shotts Bon Accord up next at Loch Park on Saturday, October 26.
Despite an emphatic scoreline at the weekend, Paton says improvement is still required ahead of the clash - especially given 4-1 defeat to Shotts in the league cup only weeks ago.
He continued: “We managed to cut out a lot of mistakes (against Deveronside), it wasn’t a perfect performance and there are things to improve on but I’m delighted to get the clean sheet – hopefully it’s the first of many.
“We need to take confidence from it, it’s a big game against Shotts on Saturday.
“They obviously beat us just the other week, convincingly at home, so we need to turn up and be a totally different side to we were then.”
And the Loch Park boss is hoping to have more new faces to call upon for the match, having added Ryan McCubbin from Kilbirnie Ladeside to his squad earlier this week.
He said: “We’ve brought a couple of boys in and we’re looking at bringing in another couple this week if we can.
“It’s all change but I feel as if we are progressing and the boys have been working hard so I’m delighted with them.”
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