Kilwinning Rangers manager Chris Strain is targeting a top-half finish in the Super Premier Division this season.

The Buffs returned to the top flight last year following two consecutive promotions from the Ayrshire District League and the Super First Division.

The Kilwinning side spent last season battling against relegation and ultimately had to beat Kilsyth Rangers in a play-off to secure their safety.

But now Strain is aiming to compete against the teams at the top of the table rather than the bottom.

“After the back-to-back promotions our aim for last season was just to stay in the league and that we did.

“We may have done it by the skin of our teeth but we did it and at the end of the day that’s all that matters.

“We now have a season’s worth of experience in this league under our belts so we’ve got to aim to do much better this time around.

“This season we are looking to finish in the top half of the table. Obviously things can change but that is our starting objective.”

Strain has managed to re-sign all but one member of last season’s squad, the only player not re-joining is Ian Cashmore.

The veteran striker has left Abbey Park in search of regular first-team football and will be playing in the Ayrshire District League with Dalry Thistle.

Cashmore, 33, announced his departure this month via a post on the Kilwinning Rangers Facebook page.

He said: "I’ve had a great third time at Buffs with two great Scottish Cup runs, a promotion and also a stay in Super Premier this season.

“So many highlights but Clydebank away last season where I got my 100th goal was special.

"Love that place and it's going in the right direction as it has last three/four years! Thanks for everything."

Strain has brought in four new players with highly-rated midfielder Michael Wardrope, 20, the club's biggest signing having joined from Ayr United.

Strain said: “I’m still looking to bring in another one or two.

“We’ve signed Michael Wardrope from Ayr which is a real coup for us as he had offers from other senior clubs but, thankfully for us, he turned them down.

“We’ve also brought in Ryan Nisbet from Troon, he was their top scorer last season so I’m hoping he can reproduce that type of form for us.

“We’ve also signed John Monahan permanently, he came up from our under 19s at the end of last season and did well so we’ve decided to give him a shot.

“Mark Campbell has also joined us as a player/coach, he’s been out the game for a bit but he’s got so much experience that I just had to sign him.”

Kilwinning Rangers only had two weeks of pre-season training last year which Strain said left his side underprepared for the challenges that lay ahead, and he has decided to bring his squad back into training early this summer to ensure they will be ready.

He said: “We had a big turnover of players last summer which meant we weren’t able to properly start training until late July.

“I think we only actually had two weeks of proper pre-season training which meant we were playing catch-up to everyone else.

“That won’t be the case this season as we’ve actually already started back which means we will have a full month of pre-season before the cup games start.

“I really want my players to be in top condition for the season starting so that’s why we are starting back a bit earlier than some other teams.”