Stirling Albion star Craig Beattie says his injury nightmare is over after he returned to action with a brace against Cumbernauld Colts.

The former Scotland international came off the bench to help the Binos seal their place in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.

And now the 31-year-old says there is no reason why they can’t shock holders Inverness Caley Thistle.

Beattie told Stirling News Sport: “It has been a long few months. I had a pretty nasty injury but I’ve worked hard with the physio and put a bit of graft in. I’m experienced enough now to know that mentally you’ve just got to get through it. I’m feeling good now and I just need minutes on the park. You can do all the training you want but there’s no substitute for getting games and goals. I’m delighted to be back and to have got a couple of goals.

“It turned out quite comfortably in the end. It’s always difficult for teams like Cumbernauld Colts to come to senior teams who have a bit of experience. The main thing is we are through now and we are playing Inverness which is a great tie for us and one that we will go into believing that we can win. If we do that, who knows what could happen.”

Beattie hopes the Binos can now build on their cup success when Elgin visit Forthbank on Saturday and believes they will be challenging at the right end of the table if they can continue their good recent form.

He said: “We’ve been in relatively good form but we haven’t really climbed the league. We know that if we maintain that form and get a couple of bits of luck we will get ourselves up there.

“The league is so tight and the quality is so similar that a bit of consistency and momentum can go a long way. A run can get you up to the top of the league and keep you challenging. It was a poor result against Queen’s Park and we never really turned up for that but hopefully we can take the confidence from Tuesday into Saturday.

“We have good honest boys in there and to be honest they don’t know how else to react. They try their best every game. Sometimes it works and you win games, others it’s not so pretty but that’s life in this league.”

The striker has used his time on the sidelines to get his first experience of coaching, and he revealed it is a path he would like to take when he hangs up his boots.

He added: “It’s a transition that I hope will happen at some stage. I think I’ve still got a few years left in me yet at 31, but I don’t think there is any harm in getting my eye in now and seeing the other side of the game. Once you do that you start to look at the games differently which is something that I’ve enjoyed.”