‘We need more players’ - that is the frank assessment of not just the fans, but also assistant boss Arnie after Thistle were left struggling for a full squad on Saturday.

And Largs face an uphill struggle this weekend with a number of players missing, as they open their league account at home to Shotts Bon Accord at Barrfields, 2pm kick-off.

Against Beith, Largs had only only one outfield player on the bench, other than Stuart Davidson himself who was listed as a sub!

Stuart ‘Arnie’ Davidson said: “We want to run with a short squad and make everybody happy, but some people are making it difficult for us, so we might need to look at making the squad bigger.

“We have got to up our game, as it has not been good enough. To be fair, there have been some boys that have played a lot of games in the Ardagh Cup, maybe more than they should have, because we have had a lot of injuries, and people on holiday. We have asked a lot of the boys.

“Some of these players including player manager Bryan Slavin have played more than the should have - I am not saying anything against his performances as he has been brilliant, and you can see Alan and Craig’s performances having improved as a result. Bryan says he would be rather standing beside me in the dug-out but I don’t believe that for a moment!” The good news for Largs is that Kevin Struthers has had treatment on his hamstring, and Nicky Jamieson is back in light training, and Willie McClure is back on holiday, although Ciaran Friels is back from holiday but unavailable Looking at this Saturday’s challenge, Arnie said: “Shotts have just come down from the Premier - I don’t see it being a much different game, it will be a very tough game similar to Beith.

“Conceding the late goal was disappointing - it was maybe looking like in a draw in the end, but overall, I thought Beith deserved it - they looked stronger and hungrier.

“We didn’t start well - the first half we were pretty poor, but the second half we were better. To lose an early goal like that puts the game plan up in the air, and we should have done better to prevent it. It actually came from our attack. and they just broke away . And the second half was not good enough either, although we did compete a bit better.

Midfielder Graham Muir has scored three in two games. Arnie said: “He’s good at getting into the box, and making the late runs, and the way we have been playing, he has a licence to get into the box as he has some freedom, and three goals in two games is good going.

“We didn’t create a lot until that spell at the end of the second half. We had two really good chances, and if you don’t take them against a good team like Beith, you will be punished right at the end.” * The club would like to thank long time supporter David Young for sponsoring the match ball at Saturday’s game v Beith - David lives in Luxembourg but still supports the club whenever he can.