A RETURN to his beloved Kilbirnie Ladeside was something hometown boy Liam McGuinness simply could not resist.

The 34-year-old midfield legend agreed a return to Valefield Park last Tuesday and faces a baptism of fire on Saturday as McBookie Premiership leaders Hurlford United come calling.

He left Kilwinning Rangers following a successful three-year spell and has been at the Garnock Valley club over three different spells spanning a decade in total.

McGuinness will have Auchinleck Talbot legend and Irvine Meadow league-winning skipper Mark Campbell with him as assistant at Blasties.

He is is positively relishing the experience and said: "I enjoyed being at Kilwinning and won the Ayrshire Weekly Press Cup last season but when the opportunity came to return to Kilbirnie it was just too good to turn down. I'm a hometown boy and they are a club with a huge fan base.

"We had a good win at the weekend and that should give us confidence. I met the players on Monday and we have such a talented squad, I'm surprised we are in the bottom three but that's the way it it is."

Added the new manager: "Our main aim is to make sure we stay in the Premier Division. Kilbirnie are a big club, we won the West of Scotland Cup when I was a player and hopefully we can start challenging for trophies again. It's a big game on Saturday but we are looking to put on a good performance."