TONY McINALLY has urged his Pollok stars to put the disappointment of their Dyslexia Scotland Junior Cup exit behind them and focus their energies on finishing the season with a silverware flourish.

Asked what he said to his team in the immediate aftermath of their soul-destroying 3-1 quarter-final reverse against Hurlford United on Saturday, Macca responded: "A dressing room can be an extremely hollow place following a defeat and, in these circumstances, there's not a lot you can say other than to stress we cannot change things so let's deal with our loss and move on.

"That said, I derive some crumbs of consolation from the very fact our players and supporters are feeling so distressed over losing out to one of the top-rated Junior sides.

"To my mind, it's a sign of the progress being made at this club, particularly when you look back towards the end of last season when nobody so much as batted an eye at our 5-2 mauling by a 10-man Hurlford.

"Now we are a much-improved and more confident playing squad with a shared spirit that won't be broken easily." He added: "We've got to take all these positives for now and bottle them up as the Junior Cup is finished for us this season and we don't have to give it a second thought until next September.

"Regaining our place in the Super Premier Division is now top priority - or maybe it has always been the case - so our minds must be 100 per cent focused on putting as many points as possible on the board to pile pressure on those teams chasing us.

"But it doesn't help to have played just two league matches in 2015 and maybe that explains to some extent why I find it hugely frustrating to be contemplating a Euroscot Eng Cup first-round tussle with Rossvale on Saturday.

"No disrespect intended, but another cup game against a Second Division side - even the league champions at that - is not what my Pollok players need right now."

The Lok gaffer's take on Kieron McAleenan's agonising spot-kick miss against Hurlford is sure to spark debate among Junior fans everywhere.

The experienced midfielder's miss acted to reinforce Macca's considered belief that a player brought down inside the area should not take the resulting penalty himself.

He said: "The very recent big-game instances involving no less than the likes of Lionel Messi (Barcelona) and James Forrest (Celtic) tend to support my viewpoint and now we have experienced it first-hand ourselves ... and not for the first time this season.

"You would almost think the player's psyche is somehow affected by being so integrally involved, but whatever the reason, I believe a different approach is needed."

Hurlford boss Darren Henderson does not necessarily agree with his dugout counterpart, however he insisted the credit for goalkeeper Ally Brown foiling McAleenan with a stunning diving save was partly his.

Hendo revealed: "I boxed lucky by telling Ally that Pollok's penalty taker would hit the ball low to his right after watching a recent video where they scored from the spot.

"What I omitted to say to Ally, though, was that John Sweeney took the award on the video ... not the lad McAleenan."

The prospect of the Dyslexia Scotland Cup semi-final double header first legs taking place in just under three weeks means Hurlford face an anxious wait to see if big stopper Chris Robertson recovers from the ligament damage which caused him to limp off in the first half of the victory over Pollok.

Henderson added: "Chris has cemented a position at the heart of our defence and has been our most consistent player all season. He is vitally important to the team not least because his versatility allows us the luxury of playing him up front if needs must, and we will pull out all the stops to get the big man fit regardless of what opponent we are paired with in Friday's draw."

One player definitely back in the Blair Park scheme of things is former Junior Scotland midfielder Stevie Masterton, who has ended his loan spell with Ardrossan Winton Rovers in the hope of playing himself back into Hendo's selection thoughts.

The opportunity for him and a number of Hurlford fringe players to stake a claim for the jerseys is looming on Saturday when lowly District League outfit Girvan visit Blair Park for an Ayrshire Cup encounter.