HIGHLY-rated former Cumnock skipper Chris McKnight has been snapped up by ambitious Troon FC.

He was one of three new recruits paraded at Portland Park on Saturday as the Seasiders returned for pre-season training.

Midfielder McKnight (28) has high hopes for 2015-16 and said: “I was at Cumnock for six years and four of those were as team captain but Troon wanted to buy me and I thought this would be a good opportunity for me. I won the Ardagh Cup with Cumnock and reached two major quarter-finals but felt it was time for a change, “Troon are a real upcoming club, we want to improve on our league position and go well in the Scottish Cup as well as getting as far as we can in all the other cups. I want to win some trophies here. I know quite a few of the boys, including Martin Fraser, who I played with at Under-21 level, as well as Scott Chatham and I played with Martin Ure at Ayr for three to four years.

“The pitch is up there with the best senior grounds and I really look forward to playing for Troon.” The former Cumnock man, who was at Ayr United as a youngster, is savouring the opening league match away to Pollok on August 30 and said: “Pollok will be celebrating with the flag presentation. Hopefully we can take some of the buzz off their celebrations. It couldn’t be a better game to start with, we are not turning up to play, we want to win. There’s no better way to open up than against the First Division champions.

Former Motherwell and Ayr United striker Dale Shirkie (20) is relishing the new challenge and said: “My main aim eventually is to go back to Senior Football. But all I am focused on now is Troon.

“We want to push for the title and also have a good run in the Scottish Cup. Standards in Junior Football are quite high and I look forward to the new season.” Sean McKenna (27), joins from Beith and was previously at Clyde, Brechin, Bellshill Athletic and Shotts Bon Accord.

He said: “I played 14 games for Beith last season but I enjoyed the season before at Shotts when we were promoted to the Premier Division. The Troon manager Jim Kirkwood had been interested for two or three seasons and he tried to get me before and he gave me a call and sold me on the move. We have a good mix of youth and experience and the pitch is like a bowling green. The club have ambition and we hope to push near the top of the league and can hopefully win a couple of trophies. It’s also important to do well in the Scottish Cup.” Assistant boss Gordon Burns is impressed with McKnight and the other pre=-season signings and said: “Chris is an excellent player who has so much experience and he is a leader. He has played at the top level in the Junior game. We are happy with all the new guys, our first training session went well. We don’t plan to add to the squad at the moment but you never know what can happen when the Ardagh Cup starts.” Troon have confirmed their pre-season friendlies line up. They face Seaham Red Star away on Saturday, July 18 and the following weekend are in the Kilwinning Rangers tournament at Abbey Park with the hosts, an Ayr United Select and BSC Glasgow from the Lowland League.

Then on August 1 and 2 they line up in the Lugar Boswell Thistle Tournament with the hosts, Bonnyton Under-21s and amateur side Hurlford Thistle.

For the full story see this week's Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald.