Gary Irvine wants immediate Forfar league reaction

The Lichties ran out convincing 3-0 winners in the Angus derby to secure a fairly comfortable passage through to the fourth round.

It brought to an end Forfar’s involvement in the competition with Irvine's men now fully focused on their League Two title campaign.

This weekend they make the trip to Cliftonhill to face an Albion Rovers side which is in decent form.

After the disappointment of the derby defeat, Irvine wants to see a positive reaction.

He told the club’s social media channel: “This (the Arbroath defeat) is a sore one for me, the players, the club, the fans. It’s a derby, I know how much they mean to supporters.

"I know the fans will be disappointed so we owe them an apology. We’ve lost by three goals to one of our neighbours.

"But my job as manager is to squash those feelings and get us back to league business.

"We’re going well there and are in a good position.

"That’s something to build on.

“My message to the players before next week will be simple, ‘get back to winning ways.’

"Do the things that have us second in the league.

"Regain confidence in ourselves.

"Play to our strengths in both defence and attack. We made mistakes that haven’t been happening in the league games. But much of that is down to the quality of the opposition.”