MARTIN LAUCHLAN has warned his Rossvale players to be on high alert over Vale of Leven stealing their thunder in Saturday's potential title-winning clash

The Bishopbriggs-based outfit already appear home and dry in the wake of sealing a 4-1 triumph over Johnstone Burgh last weekend.

That result all but put their last remaining Central Second Division title rival to the sword.

But Burgh's aspirations of finishing top of the pile can be described as barely credible seeing as Colin Smith's young side currently occupy third from bottom place in the standings and need to take full points from their remaining nine league games in tandem with Rossvale losing all their four run-in fixtures.

Lauchlan admitted: "Winning so emphatically against the Burgh has taken the heat off us and deep down I believe it's all sewn up now.

"However, nobody at this club will be breaking open the champagne until we are mathematically uncatchable.

"It would be particularly apt to get over the line on Saturday considering our league campaign started out with a 4-1 victory against Vale of Leven way back in August.

"However, the players cannot allow themselves to be sucked into the trap of celebrating before the job is done.

"You can bet the Vale players will be that bit more motivated at the prospect of coming here with the opportunity of taking our scalp and despite the scoreline they gave us a tough game at Millburn Park so we know to expect a difficult time of it.

"Our guys have worked incredibly hard to put themselves in the position of making history as the first Rossvale team to win a Junior trophy.

"But anything less than 100% commitment and focus could see us end up with egg on our faces ."

Lauchlan who has released Chris Gordon and Ryan McQuarrie to join Forth Wanderers was delighted at striker Fraser Team ending a lean spell in front of goal by getting on the scoresheet against Johnstone Burgh.

He said: " Confidence in strikers goes hand in hand with finding the net and Fraser is no different in this respect so having him at his prolific best is a huge lift for the team on top of a fully fit Rhys Donaldson returning to bolster the centre of our defence.

"And a further boost comes from Robbie Winters being available again after missing the Burgh game because he was away in Dubai playing in the prestigious Scotland v England Legends game.

"Throw in the fact Ross Hepburn, our mainstay and driving force, is playing at the very top of his game and you can see we are in fine fettle for this a momentous occasion for Rossvale so there can be no excuses if we come up short."

Rossvale's dominance has not affected the race for the remaining two Second Division promotion places.

Second-placed Cambuslang Rangers are seeking to open up a sizeable points gap over the chasing pack by chalking up a win away to struggling Forth while something has to give in the Keanioe Park head to head of Johnstone Burgh and fourth placed East Kilbride Thistle.

And coming up on the rails as a late promotion contender are St Roch's who are enjoying a glorious February

Back-to-back victories over Glasgow Perthshire, Burgh and Port Glasgow has lifted Andy Cameron's men from tenth to fifth place and a fired-up Candy will be going all out for a fourth win on the spin when taking to the road to face Royal Albert.

The delighted gaffer said: "I couldn't be happier for the players getting their rewards for a lot of hard work and dedication over the winter months.

"It's particularly pleasing to see the people from Garngad and Royston turning up in numbers to support the team.

" It's much the same group of players as before though we have tweaked things with the addition of goalkeeper John Mullen on loan from Cumnock as well as striker Baboucorr Mussa who is shaping up as a real prospect.

"And special mention has to be made of young Jordan Logan who netted five times and had three assists in the 11 goals bagged during our winning run.

"TJ McLuskey's stepping back up to Albion Rovers left us with a huge hole to fill but Jordan has stepped into the breach magnificently and if he continues in this vein of form then who knows where it might take us?"

On the transfer front, Pollok full back Ryan Scanlon moving on loan to Vale of Clyde has allowed allowing Lesmahagow to snap up Jack Currie from the Tollcross club which in turn has led to Gow boss Robert Irving revealing a willingness to listen to offers for towering defender David McCauliffe and striker Jack Taylor.