McCalls for wins
Gaffer Ian wants fewer draws
Ian McCall has urged Ayr to turn draws into wins to avoid a scramble for Championship survival.
Five draws in the last six games have left United second bottom – two points behind a trio of teams, including Saturday’s visitors Dunfermline.
Beating The Pars, and ending a ninegame run without a league win, could potentially lift Ayr into sixth, such is the tightness of the table.
A huge boost is the return of skipper Nicky Devlin ( below) who has missed the last two games with a hamstring strain. Ross Docherty serves a onematch ban but his absence is cancelled out by Jamie Adams who is now free from a two- game suspension.
Boss McCall has missed out on three strikers – Ryan Hardie of Rangers has been loaned to Raith, Dundee hitman Rory Loy will stay in the Premiership while a player offered on loan from the English Championship isn’t what he is looking for.
McCall said: “I have had no joy yet but there are still another two or three out there that I am talking to.
“One in particular I would like to get on loan is from a Premier League club but it’s tough for us attract these players.
“We need someone who has proved they can score goals at this level.
“They don’t need to be 30 or have played 300 games but certainly someone who has played at this level.” McCall admits his interest in former Rangers, Northern Ireland and Preston striker Andy Little, who is now a free agent, is still ongoing. He added: “The second half of the season will be crucial. When Craig Moore comes back we will need to hold our breath that he can keep it going for three or four months. “If we could turn half of our draws into wins we would be looking at the top half of the table. “We’ve had five draws in the last six games but you would actually be better off winning three and losing two. “We should have turned at least three of them into wins which would have taken us up to sixth.” The closeness of the league was mirrored on Monday when Dunfermline shot from second bottom to sixth with a 2- 0 win at Raith who have signed former Ayr man Ryan Stevenson following his release from Dumbarton. Ayr have a poor home record against the Pars - they have failed to beat them in their last nine meetings at Somerset. Another draw on Saturday is 12/ 5 with McBookie. com – the two previous meetings this season have both finished level too. An Ayr win is 6/ 4 while Dunfermline are 7/ 4. A 50 per cent sale in the club shop begins at noon on Thursday.