‘Don’t write us off!’ that is the message from the Largs Thistle manager Bryan Slavin who would love to play in this Saturday’s big Pollok match.

He believes his young side have ‘a point to prove’ against the runaway league leaders in the ‘David v Goliath’ contest at 2pm on Saturday.

Largs actually have good form against Pollok over past seasons at Barrfields, and Thistle are eager to upset the odds in their bid to avoid the relegation trapdoor.

The good news for the club is that Graham Muir’s red card against Rutherglen has been rescinded after a case of mistaken identity in the referee’s report.

Experienced defender Willie Kinniburgh has now signed for the Barrfields club, but skipper Kevin Struthers was unable to complete training on Monday because of a virus.

However, there have been no further new signings, as the players have been put through their paces in some rigorous training regimes.

Bryan said: “We have made a few enquiries but we want players with the right attitude to deal with the situation we are in; I am not happy about bringing in players who are recommended, and coming into a situation which will not mean much to them.

“We want to work with the players who have been dealing with the matter all season , and should have some personal responsibility for the position we are and a vested interest in getting out of it.” “These are the kind of games I would love to play in but too many things have cropped up on me over the years with muscle problems which will keep me out.” Pollok have not found Largs to be a happy hunting ground for points in recent seasons, as Largs have recorded three home victories including a 2-1 victory last season, and Bryan said he hoped that Thistle’s good run can continue this Saturday.

He said: “They will be coming down to Largs fully confident, and are stick-ons to win the league. However, there are times when you are going for league titles that you can take your eye off the ball slightly, and they will be thinking coming to Largs should be straight-forward, and can win by a couple of goals. Their focus might not be there, and we need to be right on it from the first whistle, and hopefully get an upset.

“It is a big task to go and get something but we are confident we can do it. We have two league games agains Pollok, and if we can take something from both, that will be massive for us. You see bottom teams upsetting the top dogs all the time, and I believe it is well within our capabilities if we show the right attitude and spirit. Pollok are a yardstick to where we want to be in the near future. The boys want to prove a point - and who better than against the league leaders at Barrfields? We are not expected to get anything, we are massive underdogs, so it is a matter of proving the critics wrong - we don’t need any motivation going into a tie like this, it should take care of itself.” And the Thistle boss admitted Saturday’s postponement at Irvine Vics due to a waterlogged park, was a frustration: “It has been driving me bonkers! We have had only five competitive games, and a friendly which wasn’t even a full 90 minutes, in about 11 weeks - but what can you do with the weather?

“I think they are going to come thick and fast when the midweek matches arrive - I am kind of used to that with Auchinleck Talbot with all the cups we were in - but this is very much a different situation.

“Fitness is going to be one of the keys - and I found that with so many games in such a short period of time, the focus can easily disappear. I don’t know if that will be different on the other side of the coin at the bottom of the table - but the same rules apply in terms of targets and winning the amount of games we need. However, we intend to be looking at each game individually at at a time, not approaching each game as another game but mixing it up and rotating things slightly, and keeping things fresh.” Assistant boss Stuart Davidson pointed out that many on internet forums have written off Thistle’s survival chances, and he said: “Maybe people feel they have a right to looking at our results, but we want to use that as a motivation, it is in our hands, we don’t need to rely on people to beat this team or that team, as long as we go about our own business - but it has got to start on Saturday. Whether it is Pollok or not, we have got to start getting the points on the table.”