FORGET WHO’S COMING BACK

Ayr players warned over McCall return

Mark Kerr wants his players to ignore off the field hype ahead of Ian McCall’s return to Somerset Park.

The former boss makes his eagerly awaited return to Somerset this Saturday. It’s being billed as the master against the apprentice following Kerr’s appointment to the Ayr hotseat.

But he insists his men cannot be drawn into mind games with their old gaffer.

Kerr ( right) said: “A lot of the focus will be on Ian’s return. That’s inevitable. Our job is to stay focused on the game and not let the occasion get to us. But it will affect Ian as well – he will get caught up in it and obviously knows our team inside out.

“But we have to make this about ourselves and stick to our game plan. If we do that the rest will take care of itself.”

McCall returns with the Partick Thistle side he jumped ship for last month – and a hot welcome is expected from the home end.

The Jags boss told the Post: “It’s the nature of it that people will want to abuse me. Some fans seemed to think the way I left was underhand but nothing could be further from the truth.

“I would hope that in their quieter moments, fans can reflect on what I did at the club.”

McCall has backed Kerr to become a success in the Ayr job. He said: “I signed Kerso as a young lad and he went on to be a great player for me.

“The first thing he’ll have to do is replace himself in that team because he’s so big for them.”

Ayr’s patched- up squad was due back in action last night ( Tuesday) at Morton, looking to break a three- game losing streak.