Stewart Maxwell is confident of turning around Rob Roy’s fortunes despite their 1-1 weekend draw with Petershill continuing a dismal run of league results stretching back to the turn of the year.

The erstwhile title-challenging Rabs have won just one game from eight starts in 2016 - a 3-2 victory over Pollok- and have dropped down to fourth place in the Super Premier standings to trail current frontrunners Troon by seven points.

Ahead of hosting the visit of Clydebank in a New Coin Holdings West of Scotland Cup third-round clash tomorrow, Maxi said: "People can say our title ambitions have gone for a burton, but I don’t buy into that.

“It is what it is and, yes, we’ve made things a whole lot tougher for ourselves however I won’t be giving up the fight and neither will my players until it’s mathematically impossible for us to finish top of the pile.

“We are currently missing seven regulars yet the team is playing a lot of good stuff and that was borne out on Saturday by the Peasy manager Willie Patterson acknowledging Rob Roy as one of the best footballing sides he’s come up against this season.

“We appear to be just lacking a cutting edge in the final third and I believe getting a few of our injured guys back can make a crucial difference in this respect and hopefully see us end the season on a winning run.”

Torn hamstrings render John Carter and Gary McMenamin as definite non-starters against the Bankies however Maxi is refusing to rule out a return for commanding stopper Danny Boyle and striker Kevin Watt.

He said: "Kevin has a troublesome heel problem and I desperately want him back but would rather be cautious instead of risking him being ruled out longer term and the same goes for Danny whose physical presence has been sorely missed.

“Both of them trained alongside the other guys last night so we’ll wait to see if there’s a reaction before thinking about our team selection for tomorrow night particularly as we are up against a very dangerous opponent in Clydebank .

“Getting them on the rebound after losing 4-0 to Ardrossan Winton Rovers at the weekend only makes our task more difficult so we need to be on our game right from the first whistle.

“They have quality forward going players in Joel Kasabundi and a very direct winger Mark Burbridge whose head to head with our own Danny McKenzie could be one to savour for the purists however it fills me with confidence to know Danny has met every challenge put before him this season.

”He was outstanding against Petershill and managed to quell the threat of Ciaran McElroy though a special mention is also due to Ally Martin who was asked to fill the right back berth because of an injury to Paul Finnigan and turned in a marvellous display that has given me plenty of food for thought. “

Clydebank’s surprise reverse against relegation battling Ardrossan, for whom Conor Browning (2), Ryan Caddis and Gareth Turner were on the mark, could see manager Budgie McGhie ring the changes despite having a fully fit and available playing squad , inclusive of team captain Phil Barclay whose automatic ban for being red carded on Saturday doesn’t kick in until this coming Friday.

Whosoever comes out on top in the Guys Meadow clash will be contemplating an away tie against Auchinleck Talbot or Cambuslang Rangers after West Region officials made the draw for the quarter-finals.

The full draw reads as Beith v Bellshill Athletic, Auchinleck or Cambuslang v Rob Roy or Clydebank,Cumnock or Irvine Meadow v Kilwinning Rangers , Hurlford Utd v Glenafton.

Meanwhile, one hears of a planned get-together of the Dickie Brock managed Largs Thistle team that won the West of Scotland Cup in 1991 with a 1-0 Somervell Park victory over Renfrew.

One time Theesel defensive stalwart George Wall (07801740494) has managed to make contact with most of his team-mates from that historic triumph but needs to hear from Brian McShane and Gordon Kerr, scorer of the winning goal.