Tooting & Mitcham boss Mark Beard is confident the return of four key men will see his side banish the memory of their FA Cup exit.

The Terrors crashed 4-1 to Blue Square South outfit Staines Town at Imperial Fields on Saturday to see their hopes of a run to the first round proper extinguished.

Beard hopes to welcome back Karl Beckford and Millwall loanees Pat O’Connor and Kiernan Hughes-Mason back for this week’s visit of Bury Town.

Midfielder Barry Stevens (calf) has an outside chance of being fit for the clash, and the Tooting chief is keen for his men to bounce back to winning ways.

“Karl, Pat, Barry and Kiernan are four massive players for us and it is a good thing we are getting back towards full strength,” he said.

“We need to get some more consistency in our game. We haven’t played badly we just need to get a good run of results.

“If we win our game in hand we are up to sixth place in the league, and that is about where we should be.”

The Terrors only trailed 1-0 at the break on Saturday, but were undone by a freak own goal from Hassan Nyang early in the second-half.

And Staines completed the job with the impressive Jacob Walcott finding the net either side of a Swans own goal to condemn Tooting.

“We didn’t deserve to win, but at the same time we didn’t deserve a 4-1 scoreline,” said Beard.

“We looked like we’d get back into the game after half-time, but the second goal proved a turning point. We were always up against it, but I didn’t feel we gave it our best shot.

“Some people say the cup is a distraction and it can be a good thing we are out of it now, but we want to win every game.

“It was disappointing to miss the opportunity to raise our profile.”

Tooting host Bury Town on Saturday with Beard expecting a stiff examination.

“Every manager I’ve spoken to say they are a hard team to beat,” he added.

“We want to finish as high in the league as we can so we need to win games like this.”

Tooting’s next three games: Oct 2 Bury Town, 5 Horsham (a), 9 hastings United (h).