THE weekend draw with Clydebank is not the worst result in the world.

That was the message this week from Cumnock manager John McKeown as his side battled out a difficult draw against promotion rivals Clydebank in his absence.

The Townhead boss wasn't at Saturday's 2-2 draw at Holm Park as he was at a family wedding in Oban. But the Nock gaffer was glued to his mobile phone to keep up to date with his sides result. Coaches Martin Devlin and Kieran McGuinness temporarily stepped in to the hot seat to wrap up what can be looked upon as a good result.

McKeown said: "It's not a bad point. I wasn't there but the feedback that I got from the boys was that we dominated for large spells of the game and had a few good chances."

Come the end of the season the draw could prove to be vital to Nock who saw Largs move seven points clear of the Bankies and eight clear of themselves. But Cumnock have three matches in hand and boss McKeown reckons Largs aren't out of touching distance yet. He added: "We have still to play Largs and if we just keep winning as many games as we can then it doesn't matter what they do."

The Nock boss has been left frustrated with his sides backlog of fixtures and they will fall further behind this weekend when they host Premier Division giants Irvine Meadow at Rosebank Park.

McKeown said: "It's the West of Scotland Cup, which along with the Scottish Cup are the two biggest cups in junior football so we really want to progress. But Irvine Meadow are a good side and I think their league position is a bit of a false position. You look at their squad and they have got good individual players but it is a chance and wee opportunity to go out and test ourselves against Premier League opposition. If we do go up this season it would be good to see where we are against teams like Meadow.

"It's one we have never won before but we are playing a team that's struggling and they might just perform away from their league pressures."

McKeown will be back in the dugout as he looks to guide his side in to the fourth round.

Cumnock host Irvine Meadow in the West of Scotland Cup at Rosebank Park on Saturday with a 2pm kick off.