Ayr United

Ayr struggled for goals last season after losing their prize-asset, Lawrence Shankland, to Dundee United. However, they found some unexpected durability over winter, proved difficult to beat and finished in 4th. Ayr have lost some important players with left-back Daniel Harvie moving to MK Dons and winger Alan Forrest heading to Livingston in the Scottish Premier League. Experienced midfield trio: Ross Docherty, Grant Gillespie and Andy Geggan have also departed. That leaves them a little light in midfield, but highly experienced Joe Chalmers has signed from Ross County. Steven Bell has also left. There have been some other interesting acquisitions, though. Centre-back Jack Baird joins from St Mirren with some top-flight experience, while Patrick Reading has signed from Stevenage. Tom Walsh and Dario Zanatta could also freshen up Ayr’s attack. Both are experienced and trusted at Championship level. However, Ayr clearly lack a regular scorer. Michael Moffat is now 35 and assists goals rather than scoring them. Craig Moore is a brave striker but injured his knee in pre-season and will miss most of the coming season. In a late loan deal Bruce Anderson has arrived from Aberdeen and could be the solution. Player/manager Mark Kerr is now 38 and it remains to be seen how much playing time he will afford himself. Hopes are high that midfielder Andy Murdoch can recover from a serious knee injury and re-establish himself in the team. Like several other smaller teams in the Championship, Ayr operate at the edges of full-time football. Lack of fans and gate money through the COVID-19 restrictions will hurt them hard. With no obvious assets to sell the future looks uncertain for the Honest Men.