Mark Nisbet is demanding a sterner Forfar Farmington in the second half of the season after being knocked out of the SSE Scottish Women’s Cup by Glasgow City.

Farmington, who frustrated the eight-time winners in April’s league meeting, slipped to a second-round exit after City struck through Leanne Ross and a double for Abbi Grant.

The Scottish Women’s Premier League outfit have acquitted themselves well in their first season since promotion, sitting fourth just two points behind Celtic.

But after their month-long break during July, Nisbet is calling his side to impose themselves on opponents – however high they may rank.

“We know we can compete against the top sides and we know we can match them for work rate and effort,” said the Station Park chief.

“I think on the basis of the season so far we need to take a harder stance on our games and put the opponent under more pressure, making them work for the game.

“We’ve been a bit soft at times in how we’ve conceded goals and not been aggressive enough in the final third.

“Against Glasgow I thought we were a little bit scared on the ball and not as brave as we would have liked to be. That’s something we’ll continue to work on.”

Forfar failed to create anything of note until the 68th minute, when Beth McPherson and Caroline Heron forced a stunning double save from Scotland stopper Lee Alexander.

City captain Ross curled in a free-kick to assuage early nerves, with Grant nodding home her skipper’s delivery before the break – doubling her own tally after the half-time interval.

Nisbet, who has put the twin pillars of organisation and discipline at the heart of his side since promotion from SWPL 2, was galled by conceding two set piece goals.

“City really punished us on those set plays and it put us on the back foot,” he added.

“Other than that, they didn’t open us up so to lose those two goals was hurtful. We like to be organised and try to make sure that doesn’t happen to us.”

Farmington face a rematch against Scott Booth’s City next weekend before a five-week, mid-season break.

Despite meeting the end of their road in the SSE Scottish Women’s Cup – a competition they reached the final of in 2012 – Nisbet insists they have plenty to play for.

“The main aim at the start of the season was to stay in the league,” said Nisbet, who rejoined the club in 2015 for a second spell.

“We’re sitting in a good position and although we’re not guaranteed to stay up, we’ve given ourselves a really good opportunity to do that.

“It’s important we keep pushing on and try and get as high a finish as we can.

“We’ve had a really hard time on the road with the amount of away games, so we’re looking forward to a decent run of home games and some wins on the way.”

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