DARREN CUMMINGS praised his threadbare side for their cup heroics on Saturday, and challenged the team to push on and secure a top-five finish.

The Reds thumped Hawick Royal Albert 4-0 in the King Cup on Saturday to set up a second round clash with Easthouse Lily.

Cummings' side return to league business this weekend with a trip to Tranent Juniors as they look to seal their place in the new second tier of the Lowland League for next season.

The Sauchie assistant manager told Advertiser Sport: "It was a good performance from the boys. We were just delighted to get the win and get back up the road in the hat for the next round.

"It was one of those parks that looked okay from the side, but was an absolute cow field as soon as you got on it.

"It wasn't a surface that was easy to play on so we had to adapt and they did that really well.

"They weren't up to much and we had to grind out the result. Getting into the next round was all that was required.

"We need to win all our games going forward now if we have a chance to get promotion. They are all cup finals.

"We are still pretty confident we can do that.

"We did say that to the boys. If they don't get promoted, horrible surfaces like Hawick and tough days like Saturday will be what we will have all next season."

Strikes from Craig Donaldson and Stevie Dolan sent Sauchie on their way to victory before a penalty from David Cross and late Conor Langton drive added some much-needed gloss.

It was another win secured by a makeshift Sauchie side, however, as Terry Hewitt and Mark Sharp dropped out due to work and Mark Finlayson and Ryan Millar were injured.

Still struggling for full fitness himself, Cummings partnered gaffer Iain Diack in attack and played his part in the win.

But, he later admitted the game took its toll on the two veterans who joked during the game about who was going to be the first to go off.

"Iain and I looked at each other after about 60 minutes and asked who was going to be going off first," the 34-year-old said.

"The boys were joking to us that we were playing with nine men.

"We are delighted because we were short of bodies and, hopefully, will get some more bodies in the coming weeks.

"It also shows the strength in depth that we have in the squad."