KEVIN THOMSON has praised his "terrific" Kelty Hearts stars for their fine start to the season.

The New Central Park boss, in his first managerial role, has led his team to the top of League Two with four wins and a draw from their opening five games ahead of tomorrow's visit of Elgin City.

It's an achievement that saw him named as the cinch League Two manager of the month for August, with winger, Joe Cardle, picking up the player accolade having scored three league goals as well as providing assists.

They lead the way from Annan Athletic by a point in their maiden campaign as an SPFL club, and will hope to have some key men returning having had the weekend off due to SPFL Trust Trophy fixtures taking place.

In their last outing, a 4-1 win at Stenhousemuir on August 28, Thomson was without the likes of Nathan Austin, Thomas Reilly and Jordon Forster, and could only name four substitutes, due to COVID-19 and injury issues.

Speaking to Press Sport, Thomson has been thrilled with how his squad have gone about their business so far but was quick to play down any notion of being in the frame for promotion at such an early stage of the season.

"We will show everyone the respect that they deserve. We will not underestimate anyone, certainly not me, or any of the players or any of my staff," he said.

"We've now had a look at some of the teams, we've still got another four or five to go before we have a look at everybody, we just need to keep focusing on ourselves.

"We need to keep on working hard, we need to keep on trying to play the way we want to play, which is the way we train. I want to have identity and I want people to know how Kevin Thomson teams play and so far, so good.

"The boys are taking everything on board."

With Austin unavailable, Alfredo Agyeman – who arrived at Kelty in the summer – was handed a starting berth up front against the Warriors, and rewarded Thomson with a double in a man-of-the- match performance.

That delighted his manager, who feels that his side can still do more in front of goal, continuing: "Our stats are really good in respect of creating loads of chances.

"Our goal return for that, in my opinion, is quite low when you start to look at other teams scoring two and three goals, and maybe only having eight or nine shots at goal. We've been saying to them to have swift movements in training to try and get shots off. Alfie's the catalyst for that; you want to see some of his finishes in training.

"He's had to be patient for his chance with big Fash (Austin) but I always think football's one of those games where one door closes and other one opens. Alf's grabbed his chance with two hands and we're looking forward to keeping him fit."

Meanwhile, Cardle admits that the transition from full-time football to part-time is something he's still acclimatising to – but is loving life with Kelty.

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The 34-year-old (pictured above), who had two successful spells with Dunfermline in a career that has also taken in stints at Port Vale, Airdrie, Raith Rovers, Ross County, AFC Fylde and Partick Thistle, was also on the scoresheet at Ochilview, taking his tally in maroon to four in 10 appearances.

His arrival at New Central Park in the summer, having left the Jags as a League One title-winner, was viewed as a major coup for the club.

"It's a great set-up," he said.

"The manager, the backroom staff, everyone involved in the club have been fantastic with me. I'm still taking time to get used to being a part-time football player; I think it will take a good few months for me to get used to that because I've been full-time for the last 17 years.

"It's a great club and there's good people involved that want to push on. As long as we keep doing the business on a Saturday at three o'clock, I'll be a happy man."

With First Division (now Championship) and League One gongs from his time at the Pars, Cardle, who this week was named as the cinch SPFL League Two player of the month for August, and who runs his own football academy in the town, knows what it takes to win promotion.

"We want to stay at the top of the table. That's the plan," he added.

"There's got to be consistency; I've been in the game long enough to know how long a season takes. We've got some great players in the squad but we've just got to keep consistent and keep doing what we want to do."