NEW striker Farad El Alagui is all going all out to help secure Ayr United's survival in the Scottish Championship.

The 31-year-old French Moroccan signed on loan from Dunfermline Athletic last Tuesday and is set to make his debut in the crunch relegation clash away to Dumbarton on Saturday.

He was cup-tied and missed Saturday's William Hill Scottish Cup tie against Clyde, which ended in a 1-1 draw, with the winners facing Hearts or Hibs away in the quarter-finals.

Alagui, whose top goals tally in a season is 28 with Falkirk five seasons ago, is relishing his new challenge and said: "I am looking forward to playing at Ayr. I wanted more game time and I wasn't getting that with Dunfermline. This is a good opportunity for me and I want to help us climb up the league. Hopefully I can score some more goals here. Hopefully I can help Ayr become hard to beat.

"I really look forward to the Dumbarton game and we must aim to win. Hopefully we can have a good run. It's important that Ayr stay in this league. We have a quality squad and I know Conrad Balatoni from playing against him for Dundee United when he was at Partick Thistle. I don't have a goals target, I just hope to score some goals. There's a good spirit in the dressing room. Ayr had a great result at Easter Road and hopefully we will get more like that."

Manager Ian McCall s looking forward to working with the new target man and said: "I can't wait to see Farid play. He is a goalscorer with a good scoring record and I am sure he will do well for us. He is the kind of striker that I have been looking for. Big, strong, aggressive and he is a great type of boy."

Looking ahead to the game McCall said: "Our priority is survival in the Championship. We ran Dumbarton close in December and should have won that match. It's an important match and we must aim to take three points."

Meanwhile the United manager is urging his side to seize the chance to land a lucrative quarter-final away to Hearts or Hibs as they head to Broadwood Stadium for the replay tonight (Tuesday).

Craig Moore, Paddy Boyle and Robbie Crawford are carrying knocks and rated doubtful while El Alagui is cup-tied.

The boss said: "We can go to Clyde with confidence. We missed so many chances and should have won the game. It would be a great achievement if went through and it's a great incentive knowing that we would play Hearts or Hibs away. We look forward to the replay."