NEW Irvine Meadow striker James Marks is going all out to secure promotion to the top flight after signing last week.

The 34-year-old came off the bench in the Scottish Junior Cup tie away to Maryhill on Friday, which ended in a 0-0 draw, with the replay at Meadow Park on Saturday.

He joined from Premier Division Hurlford United, where he had been on the transfer list.

Former Largs Thistle striker Marks, who played in the 2010 Junior Cup final, is relishing the challenge.

He said: "I trained with Meadow last Monday and Wednesday and signed on Thursday. I was in and out of the team at Hurlford and came down to talk to Ross Wilson, who is a great coach and a young manager with a big future ahead of me. He sold the move to me. I know Danny McKay and Steph McKeown from playing alongside them at Arthurlie. I think they have a good squad and hopefully I can play my part."

Asked about his hopes Marks said: "I want to help Meadow push up the table and get one of those four promotion places."

He added: "We could have won the cup tie and missed some chances but hopefully we can take our chances on Saturday and keep a clean sheet. The aim is to have a good run in the Scottish Cup - a club like Irvine Meadow should always be doing well in cup competitions."

Manager Wilson took positives from the display and said: "It was good to keep a clean sheet and created a lot of chances in the first half but not so many in the second. Maryhill hit the bar and we hit the post. Apart from one or two lapses in concentration we deserved to win the game. We have just conceded two goals in three games. That's the same back four who have kept a clean sheet two games running."

Looking ahead he added: "We have been nearly men in the Scottish Cup a couple of times and must look to win the replay on Saturday."

He is impressed with the new recruit and said: "James Marks is a good addition to the squad and he came into training and did really well. You need guys like him in the side. We have a good frontline with Aaron Connolly and Rhys Devlin as well."

Irvine Vics manager Stevie Wilson's side also face a Scottish Cup replay on Saturday after drawing 0-0 at home to Maybole.

He said: "The decent thing about it is it was a clean sheet and we get a replay. Maybole defended well but when we got in behind Maybole, we lacked a bit of cutting edge. We have no fears about going to Maybole and hopefully we can go through. That's a six-game unbeaten run,"