REVENGE will be the spur for Beith Juniors skipper John Sheridan when champions Auchinleck Talbot head to Bellsdale Park on Saturday.

Tommy Sloan's side ended their hopes of retaining the Scottish Junior Cup with a 1-0 win at Beechwood Park in January.

Now they hope to put a spoke in the East Ayrshire team's title ambitions as they conclude their league campaign.

Sheridan said: "We won the senior Scottish Cup tie but Talbot beat us at Beechwood albeit with a controversial goal. I know we won't win the league but our home form has been good and we have only lost once in the league at Bellsdale and once to Morton in the senior Scottish Cup so our target must be three points. Hopefully we can challenge for the title next season but the problem is we've drawn too many games and not taken chances."

However they won't easily relinquish their grip on the Ayrshire Weekly Press Cup.

Added the captain: "Hopefully we can retain the trophy, we have a semi-final to look forward to against Cumnock or Girvan."

Manager Johnny Millar said: "It would be good if the boys had something to show for their efforts and hopefully we can win the trophy."

Meanwhile Ardrossan Winton Rovers boss Sandy MacLean put a brave face on his side's 7-1 defeat away to Auchinleck Talbot in the AWP Cup quarter-finals last Wednesday.

He said: "No it wasn't a good start. We've came here and we've set up, we've practised for two weeks knowing what we're going to get when we come to Auchinleck and we're a goal down in 30 seconds. The last team in the world you want to do that to is Auchinleck Talbot because they just don't let up. From then on in it was let's try and keep it safe and another goal pops in and then we're down to 10 men. It just couldn't have got any worse.

"We wanted to keep our pride. We knew the first half was away, there wasn't much we could do about it. Auchinleck are a benchmark for any junior team, they have been for 30 years. To be fair to my players, I was happy with their second half performance. We need to get one or two new players in so we'll look at that and we'll address one or two things that are glaringly obvious.

"Playing against the Talbot highlights everything you need. That's where you want to be whereas we couldn't possibly afford their budget, of course, but nevertheless everybody has to aim for that."

ARDEER THISTLE have re-signed 12 players so far and have welcomed back midfielder Carlo Scaramuzza for a second spell.

Carlo brings a wealth of experience, having also played twice at Irvine Victoria.