A philosophical Mark Yates is keen to look ahead to Thursday's game with Cambridge after seeing his side crash out of the FA Cup at Dagenham today.

Just five minutes away from a replay, it looked as if Harriers' Cup run might live on at least to see another match, but as it was, a late rally from John Still's side saw the hosts go through.

There's no doubt that the 3-1 score was harsh on the day's visitors, but Yates, whilst disappointed, wasn't prepared to dwell too much on the defeat.

Instead, the Harriers' boss immediately looked ahead to Thursday's live Setanta clash against Cambridge United in the Blue Square Premier.

Speaking after the game, Yates admitted:"We've got a disappointed dressing room in there; we're disappointed that we didn't get something out of the game after going in front.

"We felt we deserved that but that's football and you don't get what you deserve sometimes.

"We've got to look forward to Thursday now, in our minds the FA Cup is out of the window and none of us will be watching the draw tomorrow.

"We're going to focus on what's going to be a very tough home fixture against Cambridge."

He continued "Credit to Dagenham to be fair, they've taken their chances as they've come along and we haven't.

"It was a proper cup tie - the conditions made it a good, entertaining game and we just wish we could be going home with at least a draw, but it's not to be.

"We were never going to win the FA Cup but it would have been nice and very financially rewarding, it's just not for us this year."

Jimmy Quinn's Cambridge United may well have only lost once all season long in the Blue Square Premier, but that will hardly be enough to faze Harriers, and Yates, who will look towards a league win this Thursday night to ensure their promotion campaign still has some semblance of life.

Explaining what his outfit need to do to climb up the table, he added: "We just have to be a bit more consistent and kill teams off, maybe be a bit more resilient at the back at times.

"We're still gunning for the play-offs; we've shown what we can do with our performances,

"If we keep sticking together and working at it as a group and as a team, we'll be alright."