Thistle player boss Bryan Slavin believes his side made some good progress on Saturday, but need to be more decisive, and predicts a thriller at Troon on Saturday.

Like Largs, the South Ayrshire side were involved in a high scoring encounter, 4-4 at Hurlford, and Bryan believes that there could be weaknesses for Largs to exploit. It is a 2pm kick-off at Portland Park on Saturday. The Barrfields side are desperate to get their first league win of the season after coming seven minutes away from picking up their first point of the season on Saturday, and as an extra carrot - they could move off bottom spot with a win.

Bryan said: "Troon have been blowing hot and cold all season, and have been leaking goals. I have no doubt with the right attitude, and if we can be a bit more streetwise, we could go there and win. We need to keep our own back door shut, but it could be another thriller the way things are shaping up. After scoring a couple of goals on Saturday, we are a bit more confident, and there are goals in us.

"I don't see why we can't go and win there. We need to learn lessons from these games, and it is some small things that have been letting us down.

"We rode our luck in the first half hour against Arthurlie, and after they scored, I felt we came into a bit more, and we pushed for the equaliser and second goal, and nobody could say we hadn't worked for it.

"Yes, Arthurlie hit the woodwork, and we maybe got that rub of the green there, but for us to throw a goal away for quickly after going 2-1 up took us right back to square one, and then essentially, it takes somebody to be decisive and deal with the situation which cost us the third goal. We could have got something out of the game."

"There was a real ebb and flow at times in the second half, and we had that opportunity cleared off the line, while I felt there were a couple of big decisions for the referee that went against us."

On reflection, Bryan said that apart from the Cumnock match, Largs have had good phases in matches so far, and against Arthurlie, they could have taken something: "You can't sit and say in these games that anyone had a particularly bad game, it has been wee moments where we have switched off, or indecision that has really cost us. You are stepping up a league and we have to be tuned in a wee bit more. We will continue working hard, concentrating and thinking it through, and I hope the players reflect on that we were quite close on Saturday too."

Bryan said that Largs are not that far away, and said: "We need to be a bit cuter, cleverer in defence, and decisive, and we can get good results in this league."

Injury wise, Gary Fleming is still a few weeks away, while Jamie McDonald is still suffering from a groin injury, and impressive young full-back Laurie McMaster is improving after missing recent games.

Last season, Largs ran Troon close in the West of Scotland Cup before losing out to two late goals, and will hope to make amends this weekend.