THE title-chasing Kelty Hearts players have been tasked with winning each of their final six games as they bid to seal League Two glory.

Following last Saturday's stalemate at Elgin City – their second in succession, following their trip to Albion Rovers the previous Wednesday – the New Central Park outfit hold a 13-point lead over closest challengers Annan Athletic, who won at Stirling Albion.

Two more victories will definitely seal the deal for Kevin Thomson's team, although they could clinch it this afternoon at home to Stenhousemuir if they win and Annan lose at home to Albion.

Kelty are unbeaten in their last six outings and have yet to lose at home in the league but Thomson told Press Sport that they expect "no favours" from their opponents as they bid to end what looks set to be an historic campaign in style.

"They grit their teeth and rise to the demands, and I've got a group of players that are determined to please me," he said.

"We've got six games to go and we're demanding six wins out of six. I said to them that I wanted to win every game between now and the end of the season, and we've won four and drawn two of our last six.

"We're looking forward to the games and we've got a lot of good teams to play. We'll fully focus on, and respect, the opposition.

"We've had five games in 14 days so we've had to stick together and I'm proud of the players. Credit to the boys; they've had to keep going back to the well for us.

"But there will be no plaudits yet from me, and the players won't want any either. We have to be on our guard, have an edge and continue to train properly and focus.

"We expect no favours from any team."

At Borough Briggs, they played against 10 men for just over half an hour after Robin Omar was shown a second yellow card but couldn't find a route to goal.

Tam O'Ware, who also had a shot saved in time added on, headed against the crossbar, while Jamie Barjonas and Robbie McNab both came close for Kelty.

It was the second draw between the teams this season, which also saw one win apiece in their League Two meetings, and Thomson felt his side missed some "incredible" opportunities to win, but said that their last half-a-dozen games had been close and shown "how difficult this league is".

Kelty will be bidding for a fourth win from four against Stenhousemuir but, just over two weeks ago, it took a stoppage time goal from Nathan Austin to decide the last meeting between them in their favour at Ochilview.

"That was a good game; I felt they played well and we played well," Thomson added.

"They lost in the second minute of stoppage time, which I'm sure was a bit of a kick in the teeth for Swifty (Stenny manager Stephen Swift) and his boys but we thought, before that, we edged it.

"Thankfully, we're back to playing on our astro; a slick pitch which helps the way we play."

Thomson, who praised Max Kucheriavyi for trying to make an impact as a substitute at Elgin despite taking a knock to his ankle at Albion, said he was trying to protect Dougie Hill – who last featured in the 3-1 home win over the Coatbridge team on March 12 when he went off with suspected cramp – by not playing him in either of their last two games.

He's also hopeful that centre back Jordon Forster and midfielder Andrew Black could make a return to training this week.