ARDEER Thistle boss Sean Kenney says he is “very comfortable” about the position his side find themselves in.

A 3-1 loss to Glasgow Perthshire at the weekend, their first competitive match of 2023, has seen the Stevenston side slip into the relegation zone.

A Jack Loudon penalty gave Thistle the lead on 12 minutes, before Glasgow Perthshire drew level only two minutes later.

They then pulled ahead before half time, added a third and killer blow before full time.

Though, given the circumstances, Kenney told the Herald he did not leave the match feeling disappointed.

He commented: “I’ve come out of it feeling quite positive. The last two competitive games we’ve come out them both positive.

“I’ve come away from it, we’re making a lot of chances, and I’m thinking someone’s going to get a doing soon. That’s what happened earlier in the season and we went on a five game winning run.

“I think it’ll be a bit of an up and down run until the end of the season, so we need to deal with these setbacks.”

Kenney added that he is well aware of the position Ardeer now find themselves in - though it is a challenge he is relishing.

He continued: “It’s not something we hide from, we know what we’re in, we’re in a relegation battle.

“What I want us to do is get a sick buzz out of it – we’ve got something to play for, something to fight for until the end of the season.

“We’ve got to fight to stay in the league. The way you do that is by grafting, not getting carried away with a good result and not thinking you’re terrible if you get beat.

“I’m very comfortable, I’ve spoke to the boys and we’re going to enjoy the pressure.”

While Kenney firmly expects his side to steer clear of relegation - he was keen to emphasise just how big an achievement this would be.

He said: “If you look at what we’ve went through on and off the park with selling players, with millionaire takeovers, not being able to have budget until the season started and things like that.

“If we stay up this season it’s a far better achievement than getting promotion last year – I don’t see why we can’t do that.”