Ardeer Thistle manager Sean Kenney says the signing of Calvin Kemp is pushing his players to impress.

The forward arrived at Thistle at the end of the last month from Kilwinning Rangers.

He was part of a double signing alongside former Kilbride Thistle midfielder Dean Picken.

The former Buffs man is quite a coup for the West of Scotland Football League Conference B outfit and boasts a CV of clubs including Stranraer, Darvel and Auchinleck Talbot.

Speaking to the Herald, Kenney said: “Kemp is an exciting signing for us.

“What it has done is stepped up the players around about him.

“We have played a lot of friendlies recently due to postponements and we have had a lot of different goalscorers in those games.

“So, Kemp’s presence in the squad is lifting all the players around about him.

“It is competition and that is what we need but he is a quality player that is for sure.

“He has been training with us since before Christmas and played against our U20’s side and scored a few goals.

“He is not fit at the moment but to be fair to him he is working on it and he will slide into the squad nicely when back.”