Stuart McLaren was pleased with his players’ professionalism after the comfortably saw off Cumbernauld Colts in the third round of the Scottish Cup.

The Binos raced into an early two-goal lead and added four more to their tally in the second half to set up a fourth-round tie with the holders, Premiership side Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The draw pits Albion against top-flight opposition for the first time since they were beaten by Celtic in 2008, but the manager says there is no reason why they can’t go into the tie hoping to cause an upset.

McLaren told Stirling News Sport: “We asked the players to be professional. We felt we had the better team but that doesn’t guarantee you the win. You have to go and earn that and I thought in the early stages the boys went about their jobs professionally. We got the goals at the right time. Scoring early on settles any possible nerves and the third goal early in the second half effectively killed the game off.

“You just want to progress as far as you can in any competition but when you get the cup holders in the next round, it’s at home and the television cameras are maybe thinking it’s a potential banana skin it’s an extra little incentive. But it wouldn’t really have mattered too much who we had drawn. The motivation is still there to get through to the next round of the cup.

“You want to go and test yourself against the Premier League teams. It will be at home and hopefully we will get a good crowd. If we can get to that point with some good league form under our belts then there is no reason why we can’t go toe to toe with Inverness and see what they’ve got.”

McLaren was delighted to see Craig Beattie come off the bench for his first appearance since picking up an injury in August, and the former Scotland striker repaid his manager’s faith with a late double.

Teenager Kyle Lander, on loan from St Johnstone, also came on as a substitute to net his first Binos goal, and his manager hopes he can add to his tally before he returns to his parent club in January.

He said: “It was great to get Craig some minutes and it was great for his confidence to get a couple of goals. It was a good reward because he has been a consummate professional in terms of his own rehabilitation, and he has been a great example to the other players, especially the young ones. He has showed them how to be a good pro and has given them some great coaching tips. It’s great to have him back and I know he will contribute plenty of goals between now and the end of the season.

“We are delighted for Kyle because he showed some really positive signs when we first had him on board. It’s been difficult for him since then, mainly down to the form of the other players. We are always looking for a chance to play Kyle because when he gets a sight of goal, 99.9 per cent of the time he hits the target. It’s good for him to get that goal and hopefully he can notch a couple more for us over the next few weeks.”

Albion return to League Two action on Saturday when Elgin City visit Forthbank, and McLaren says it is important his side pick up the three points and start to close the gap on the teams above them.

He added: “It is a really important game. We have an important month but we have to take each game as it comes and playing the likes of Elgin, Annan and East Fife, who are all above us in the league, gives the boys a great opportunity to make up a bit of ground and make sure we go into the turn of the year in a challenging position. We felt that we put in a really good performance up at Elgin and only allowed them one shot on target, which unfortunately turned out to be the only goal of the game. It will be a difficult game because they are a good side who pose a real threat going forward, so we will need to be at our best. But having done the job as well as they did on Tuesday they can go into it with great confidence and belief.”