LARGS THISTLE boss Stuart Davidson has challenged his side to kickstart their season against Shettleston today as he plots a swift return to the Super Premier Division.

Theesel earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Larkhall last weekend to make up for a 4-1 trouncing at the hands of Troon and they welcome the Glasgow men to Barrfields today.

A high turnover of personnel has forced Davidson to be patient as new faces continue to settle, but the former Auchinleck Talbot ace reckons now is the time to start finding consistency in Division One.

“It’s been a decent start,” he said. “It’s not been poor but it’s not quite been up there the way I would’ve wanted it.

“As the season goes on I think the consistency will kick on across the whole team. We’ve just been a bit up and down, and you can put that down to it being a relatively new group.

“We’ve done well to recover last week after losing away at Troon, which wasn’t good enough. We’ve went up to Larkhall where it’s always a tough game and come away with a clean sheet and a good three points.

“Now we need to kick on from that. It’s a very tough league and I know it very well – week to week it’s always a hard game whether you’re playing a team at the top or the bottom.”

Despite that stuttering start, Davidson will fancy his men to dispatch the threat of visiting Shettleston and begin to make inroads in the league table, with a win potentially lifting them two places into 4th.

The North Ayrshire men were undone by a poor opening to the 2016/17 campaign and were ultimately unable to avoid the drop.

And while he remained in the hot-seat, Davidson has overseen a raft of changes which give his Largs squad a different complexion to the one he took over last October.

But the gaffer insists a summer of upheaval has not altered his goal of winning promotion at the first time of asking.

“We’re definitely looking to go up,” Davidson revealed. “To get relegated last year was very disappointing. It was a terrible start but we gave ourselves a chance by picking up points here and there but it wasn’t to be.

“It still hurts so this year we want to make up for it. I think home form will be key, if we can win on our own patch then pick up what we can on the road then we’ll be in with a good shout.

“The first few league games you’re still trying to settle yourself and I think we’ll kick on as the season progresses when everybody knows and understands each other that bit better.”

Davidson stepped into the firing line at Thistle after the departure of his friend and predecessor Bryan Slavin last season.

It was the one-time Kilmarnock midfielder’s first foray into management following spells as number two at both Largs and Kilbirnie Ladeside.

And as he approaches a full year as main man in the Barrfields dugout, the former tough-tackling midfielder admits he’s barely had time to reflect on 12 months of trials and tribulations.

“First of all, I do really enjoy it, otherwise I wouldn’t bother doing it,” Davidson said. “But it can be tough and it’s very hard work trying to pick the best team and keep people happy.

“Especially this summer we’ve put a lot of effort into identifying new players and trying to get them signed up. Most people will tell you it’s like a full-time job.

“You can’t stop thinking about it, but I don’t know what I’d do without it. It takes a lot out of you but getting that result on a Saturday makes up for it all.”