Queen’s Park chief executive Leeann Dempster insists the Spiders must now fully focus on clinching the Championship title after being thrown out of the Scottish Cup.
Owen Coyle’s team were dismissed from the competition by the Scottish FA on Friday after admitting they had fielded an ineligible player - Euan Henderson - in last week’s 2-0 rearranged win over Inverness in the fourth round.
The on loan Hearts forward only joined the club after the original game was postponed on January 21 and he should not have been involved against Caley.
And instead of preparing a last-16 trip to Livingston this Saturday, Queen’s Park will now travel to Morton in a league game that was postponed in December.
Coyle’s side can move seven points clear at the summit with victory and Dempster insists they cannot let their cup exit throw them off track.
She said: “We’re really disappointed, disappointed for the supporters, the players, the management team, everybody.
“It’s not a great feeling, I have to tell you.
“It’s a blow, it’s not a fatal blow but we have to pick ourselves up.
“We have a league campaign to move on with and we need to refocus on that.
“We’re very sorry about it, it’s something that shouldn’t have happened. We’re out of the competition but we have to look forward now
“It’s an odd one, it can only happen to you if you have a replay or a postponement, we should have known about it, there is enough experience in the club to know about it, there is no excuse we need to own it and that’s it.”
