ELATED Kevin Thomson has hailed his heroic Kelty Hearts stars for their "amazing" Scottish Cup triumph - but insists they'll be ready to battle for league points tomorrow night.

The New Central Park boss, who revealed that he was interviewed for the manager's job at Kilmarnock before they appointed Derek McInnes as Tommy Wright's successor, enjoyed the highest point of his flourishing career in the dugout on Saturday.

In what was the club's first-ever fourth round tie, a capacity crowd watched further history be made as Kallum Higginbotham's glory goal in extra-time saw the League Two leaders send holders St Johnstone spinning out.

The home fans in the 2,000 plus attendance were sent wild and they can now look forward to tackling another Premiership club, St Mirren, when they travel to Paisley in round five over the weekend of February 12-13.

Saturday's victory was one that was fully deserved by the men in maroon, who competed well against their top flight opponents, restricting their opportunities at goal, whilst having some of their own.

Thomson's work in leading Kelty to a seven-point lead in League Two, and the fifth round of the cup, in what is his first managerial role, has not gone unnoticed, and he told BBC Sportsound yesterday (Sunday) that Championship Killie had spoken to him about their vacancy.

However, speaking to Press Sport following their historic cup victory, he vowed that his players will recover from the highs of that match and be ready for tomorrow night's rearranged trip to Elgin City.

"Amazing. Listen, we're over the moon," Thomson said of the Saints success.

"It's easy to say that sometimes when you have big results, but the energy...I said to them before the game, listen, trust the shape. Be patient without the ball. We have got the quality when we string a couple of passes together, and when we string a couple of passes together, and we show a bit of composure, we will get chances.

"I tried to say to them that, just because St Johnstone are on a bad run, they're a good team, a Premiership team. We've got no given right to be beating them but, at the same time, I don't want the mentality to be that this is a free hit for us. It's not a free hit for us. We genuinely believed we could give them a hard time.

"Aye, we had to ride our luck at times. We had to defend really well, DJ (Darren Jamieson) had to make good saves, the team had to dig deep, but I have to say, over 120 minutes being a part-time team and to go toe-to-toe with a Premiership team was unbelievable, really, from every single player.

"Alfie obviously hits the stantion (of post and bar) late on as well, Ross (Philp) had his chance, Botti (Biabi) had a wee chance that they had a last-ditch tackle, so I don't think we were hanging on for dear life, that's for sure.

"But, at the same time, they put us under pressure. They've got good players. We knew - full-time team, three leagues above us - there would be times in the game that we had to defend really well. I said that to them before the game; if we we're clinical in their box, and we defend ours like man mountains, we will have a chance of winning today because we've got the quality to hurt teams. We genuinely believed that.

"It worked out. We deserved the plaudits but, at the same time, we need to go again on Tuesday."

When asked about the fact they're going from the high of Saturday to making sure they're focused on elgin, Thomson replied: "That's up to me as the manager to make sure that we're prepared.

"Listen the boys are tired. Elgin will be delighted we've had to go to extra time, we're going to need to travel four-and-a-half hours, but that's why I want the mentality to be hungry and relentless. It's something that we work on every Tuesday Thursday to make sure that we train hard. The boys are fit, I think you could see that on the pitch how fit the boys are.

"There was no way we were going to tire. It didn't matter to me if we we're going to have to go an extra 30 minutes - I know the boys would go to the well for us.

"We're delighted with the group. It's amazing for the town, amazing for the club."

Following their cup heroics, a lot of media attention has been on Thomson and the club over the weekend, and he told BBC Sportsound that he had spoken to Kilmarnock about their job after Wright's sacking - which came after December's abandoned game with Dunfermline - but reaffirmed his commitment to Kelty.

"The feedback I got was brilliant. Everyone knows I was linked with the Killie job," he explained.

"I went down and spoke to Killie - I wanted to put myself in that position to speak to the board.

"The club (Kelty) are not naive. They know my aspiration is to become a full-time manager at a big club.

"That has to be my path, but at the same time, I am as honest as the day is long and, when that phone call went to Kelty, I wanted to sit in front of a board and sell myself.

"Ultimately, I didn't get the job, but I certainly wasn't disappointed that I didn't get the job because I've got a brilliant job at Kelty and I'm fully focussed and committed to the lads."