Largs Thistle have made a first class appointment with the arrival of three times Talbot Scottish Cup winner Liam McVey as players' coach.

The postal worker is aiming to deliver Thistle back to the Premier at the first time of asking, and the former Partick Thistle, Airdrie and Glenafton man is hoping to bring his wealth of experience to the role.

The 35 year old featured in Talbot's 2009 Scottish Cup win over Clydebank along with Largs manager Stuart Davidson, and is described as 'stylish and tenacious full-back'.

Long serving striker James Marks looks like he is staying in the Premier League and is set to sign for Hurlford United.

Thistle need to strengthen the Largs strikeforce after the loss of Kevin Struthers to Winton, while Robert Love and Matt Bennett have been released.

Already signed is dangerous Clydebank marksman Joel Kasubandi, and Thistle announced another new signing in Ryan McKie, previously of Arthurlie FC, Saltcoats Victoria F.C. and Bonnyton Thistle, who can play on the left or right midfield.

Thistle have announced a new assistant manager in Martin Crawford, who has regularly attended Largs games during recent seasons, and has already acted as a scout for the club.

Stuart said: "The situation with James Marks is that as far as I know, he is signing for Hurlford. We are looking at other strikers just now to bring in, it is an area we are looking to strengthen.

"We have re-signed Alan Gilbride in defence, and brought in Ryan McKie from Arthurlie who will give us some options in the wider areas. Training resumes on Wednesday, and we have barely had a break from last season, but pre-season is very important to us and you look to get a bit of stability before you start the games."

Midfielders John Tennent and Glenn Thomson have departed the Barrfields club to BSC Glasgow and Greenock Juniors respectively.

Stuart commented: "Glenn has been in and out of the side during the past two seasons and he has done well for us but at Glenn's stage, he needs regular first team football, and he definitely has potential."

Looking towards the challenges that like ahead in the First Division, Stuart said: "It is a very competitive league; you just need to look at Girvan who just got promoted from the Ayrshire District, and they have gone up to the Premier. They were probably seen as one of the easier teams. As much as we say that Largs should be a Premier team, first and foremost, we need to make sure we don't get dragged down to the bottom half of the table. I know Bryan Slavin said last time that his aim was to win the league. My aim is to always aim for top spot going into every game. We want to get back up, but you need to make sure you get off to a good start and get yourself into a good position, without worrying what is behind us. Teams like Darvel and Kello came out of a very competitive league too, while Cambuslang did well. You have big draws like Irvine Meadow, and then you have Troon who were relegated with us, and they will want to bounce back too."

Players signed so far: Ross Lundy, Sean Graham, Alan Gilbride, Nicky Jamieson, Creag Little, Iain Fisher, Laurie McMaster, Graham Muir, Ryan McKie, Gary Fleming, Martin Orr, Stephen Burden, Matthew Ashe, Joel Kasabundi,

* Pre-season games at Barrfields Park are as follows: v Gartcairn F.A. Juniors (Saturday 15th July), St Cuthbert Wanderers F.C. (Saturday 22nd), Greenock Juniors FC (Tuesday 25th July) and Luncarty F.C. (Saturday 29th July).