ARDROSSAN Winton Rovers and Kilwinning Rangers are showing no signs of cracking under the strain as the campaign to be crowned Ayrshire District League champions reaches its conclusion tomorrow.

But there are bound to be jangling nerves as the two leading protagonists play their final league games.

Promotion for both sides is already a given - but not so the destiny of the top honours.

Table-topping Winton take to the road to face fourth-placed Darvel knowing anything less than a share of the spoils would open the door for the Buffs to pip them to the post by winning at Lugar Boswell.

And what is shaping up as a fraught day is guaranteed to spark a family celebration - regardless of the twin outcomes - for Chris Strain Senior and Junior will be patrolling the respective dugout areas of the would-be title winners.

The more seasoned of the Strains is urging his Ardrossan players to earn a pay-off for their sweat and labours over the past 10 months.

He said: "We go into the game playing with a lot of belief and no little confidence, but this Darvel team are no pushovers and have decent players in Jamie Henderson and the forward-going pair of Mark Armour and Ryan Jordan, so it's vital we give them no encouragement if we are to get closure.

"Our experienced players, John Johnston, Robbie Cochrane, Michael Wardrope and Matty Bennett, will hopefully give us a lead in this respect and, if they are at the top of their game, then we will do well.

"Our only injury doubt at this stage is Billy Gilmour as Darren Miller looks to have recovered from going over on an ankle, while Gareth Turner has declared himself fit and ready after a long lay-off.

"And another major plus is having Ryan Caddis available after he appealed against his red-carding in the recent game with Lugar.

"He has consistently shown himself to be a cut above Ayrshire District level this season as a 33-goal haul to his name testifies, and he has also worked wonders in helping develop young Jarred Willet as a frontman of real potential.

"And I'd like to think we have an ace up our sleeve if those two are firing blanks in veteran hitman Ian Cashmore, who has managed to bag 15 goals despite spending most of his time on the substitutes' bench."

Kilwinning's slender goal difference advantage (they are plus 73 to the Winton's plus 72) has Chris junior determined to apply the pressure on his "old man" by taking all three points against Lugar.

And he is refusing to bemoan the fact his players have missed out on going into the final day in pole position themselves after losing 2-1 at Whitletts Vics in their last outing.

The former midfielder said: "The Whitletts defeat was disappointing, not least because I would like our fate to be in our own hands and not dependent upon Darvel coming up with the goods.

"But I can just as easily point to a sticky patch of results around Christmas time as a cause for our second-top placing, so there's nothing for it other than to focus on the job in hand and see where it takes us.

"George Grierson, the former Kilwinning Rangers boss, is in charge at Lugar, and you can bet he will not want to be looking on from the outside at any title celebrations come the final whistle, so we can expect no favours from him and his players.

"We have played a lot of silky football to get where we are, but I'll settle for a more battling display just as long as we win."