There cannot have been many, if any, better signings than Largs Thistle’s capture of former Celtic, Falkirk and Dundee United ace Mark Millar.

So said Theesel manager Stuart 'Arnie' Davidson after watching on from the Newlandsfield trackside as the 30-year-old midfielder made his Junior footballing bow in Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw with Pollok.

Arnie was regarded as a top-notch engine room exponent in his own playing days yet he was in awe of Millar’s debut display.

He said: “I fully expected him to be tidy on the ball and rarely give it away but the real eye-opener was his decision making, often before the ball had even reached him, and I believe we can count ourselves very fortunate to get someone in of his quality.

“He could easily have stayed in the Senior ranks where a number of clubs were keen to sign him, most notably Stirling Albion, where he has been training but the key factor in our favour was Mark wanting to play closer to his home in Greenock.

“And him being pals with a few of our players led to a visit to Barrfields and a look around our set-up as well as talks with myself before he put pen to paper.

“Already I can say without hesitation that he’s going to make a big difference to us this season.”

Millar was not the only Theesel newcomer to make a good impression on Arnie as he was delighted with the showing of former Irvine Meadow winger Ben Black in midweek as well as ex-Queen's Park and Pollok midfielder Paul Harkins.

Arnie insisted: “Ben is a very good runner with ball to feet and was very lively against Pollok playing off the left side where he gave us a good balance and on that showing he can fill the void left by Alex McWaters moving to Hurlford United.

“And Paul’s ability to pick out a pass was there for all to see and I feel the addition of him, Mark and ex-Ayr United signing Stuart Faulds to our established pair of Graham Muir and Gary Fleming gives us a midfield that will be the envy of other clubs.

“We were able to ask a lot of questions of Pollok and it’s encouraging to have our first point on the board at this early stage as it took Largs all of eight games to do that when they last played in the top division.”

Later today, Arnie and his players await the visit of Kilwinning Rangers who recently ran out 3-2 winners when the sides clashed in a Sectional League Cup encounter at Abbey Park.

He said: “Any mistake or lapse in concentration at this level leads to you getting punished and we found that out to our cost in the first game against the Buffs when we were 3-0 down at one point.

“But they will find us a different team now and hopefully we can show lessons have been learned by getting the right result."

Word on the team front has winger Ryan McKee rated a non-starter for Largs with a thigh muscle problem while Kilwinning have defender Joe Coleman causing concern with a slight calf strain though he is expected to declare himself available for selection according to manager Chris Strain.

He said: “It’s inevitable that players will pick up little strains and pulls from playing so many games this early into the season but Joe is a hardy type and I expect him to up for the game.

“Largs are the third promoted club we have faced on the trot and I expect them to be every bit as difficult opponents as Renfrew and Petershill proved to be and there’s no let up in sight as our next two league games are against Troon and Cambuslang Rangers.

“Playing promoted sides so early on is not to my liking as they tend to be full of enthusiasm and fired up to prove they deserve their place in the Premiership and we have had to dig deep for our two victories up to now,

“Largs have a bit of mettle about them as they showed in battling back in our Sectional game and now there is the further boost from a terrific result against Pollok so we are anticipating a tough timer of it down there.”

In the Championship, something has to give in the head-to-head of early frontrunners Dalry Thistle and Irvine Vics, both having racked up two wins from their opening league games as have Cumbernauld United hosting the visit of Neilston and the strongly fancied Rutherglen Glencairn out to make home advantage tell against Girvan.