Largs Thistle manager Stuart Davidson has called on his players to put in a performance for the fans in this weekend’s cup derby against Dalry Thistle.

The Barrfields side were held to a point by newly promoted St Cadoc’s in the league last weekend – despite playing for almost an hour with an extra man.

Thistle now have a chance to bounce back with a victory over lower-league Dalry in a local derby this weekend.

Ahead of a big clash in the South Region Challenge Cup on Saturday, Stuart has challenged his players to go far in the competition this year.

He said: “We said at the start of the season we wanted to be better in the cups than last year, and Saturday brings an opportunity to get into the next round.

“We owe the fans a good performance because they stick by us through thick and thin, even after the disappointing result last weekend.

“There are standards we set for ourselves at the start of the season and we maybe haven’t got there quite yet.

“We have shown our best in spells so far this season but maybe not recently, so this game presents the opportunity to get back to that.”

Despite playing several leagues below Largs, Stuart insists his players will not underestimate their visitors at Barrfields.

He said: “We played Dalry in pre-season and they have some good players who will be hungry to impress.

“I know it’s going to be a tough game and they will come here desperate to take a scalp so we need to stand up to that side of it.

“There may be leagues between us but that means nothing going into the cup games, and I’ll make sure the players know that.

“We will not be taking Dalry lightly and hopefully our performance on the day will showcase that to the fans.”

The Thistle manager admits he was left frustrated following Saturday’s draw with St Cadoc’s, and says it was two points lost rather than one gained.

He said: “To have the man advantage and then lose the first goal was frustrating, but to equalise straight away was one of the only positives to take.

“I felt as if we were a bit wasteful and just didn’t have that cutting edge which I think we should have had, especially against ten men.

“Every point in this league is a prisoner and we are not going to win every week, but we need to be taking the three points in games where we have that advantage.

“I will never question the players’ endeavour or hard work, but we just needed someone to take that responsibility to win the game for us.”

Largs will take on Dalry at Barrfields this Saturday, September 16, with a 2pm kick-off.