FOCUSED Irvine Meadow boss Gareth Turner is looking to his side to kick start another long unbeaten run as they head to Glasgow for their first game of 2017 on Saturday.

Sixth-placed Meadow head to Greenfield Park to face second-placed Shetttleston, who have won seven of their 11 opening games.

The Irvine side will be hoping to recapture the form which saw them go on a 10-game unbeaten run before losing 3-2 away to Girvan, with their last competitive match ending in a 1-1 draw at home to Petershill on December 17.

Turner insists he is encouraged with his team's progress as we approach the halfway stage of the campaign.

However he is expecting a tough test at Greenfield Park and said: "We have kept the guys ticking over the festive period with a couple of training sessions and a friendly. It's a difficult game to start the year. Shettleston are one of the top sides and we have had them watched. But we will be looking for a positive result from the game. We will be looking to take the three points as we do in every game."

The co-boss is playing down any talk of promotion and added: "We went on a really good unbeaten run before Christmas and hopefully we can do that and see where it takes us. But t's far too early to be looking at league tables at this stage of the season."

Meanwhile Kilwinning Rangers face a crunch home clash with basement side Largs Thistle on Saturday. Buffs are a point ahead of Thistle with two games in hand.

The Abbey Park side won the corresponding match 3-1 at Barrfields Park back in September and defeated Scottish Cup winners Beith 3-1 by the same scoreline on December 10, before losing 1-0 away to Glenafton Athletic after missing a late penalty seven days later.

Defeat would consign Buffs to bottom spot so Chris Strain Jnr's side will be going all out for victory.

Irvine Victoria will be looking for an upturn in their fortunes as they kick off 2017. They have taken just five points from their opening 11 matches.

Basement team Vics host fifth bottom Renfrew and Stevie Wilson's team will be looking to secure just their second victory of the league campaign.