NEILSTON co-manager Derek Carson has challenged his players to win the right to be at Brig O’Lea next season.

The Farmer’s Boys once again had a free Saturday as their mini hiatus from league action goes on before they host Cumbernauld United next weekend.

Carson’s side haven’t played a competitive match since beating Dalry Thistle at the start of March and had only lost once in six before being hit by a string of postponements.

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The call-offs mean Neilston face a gruelling fixture list for their remaining games, with trips to St Roch’s, Benburb and Rossvale among those to come.

The Farmer’s Boys are out of the promotion race but don’t have to worry about a relegation battle either, with Carson admitting he already has an eye on next season’s title fight.

“Our message to the boys is to go out there and finish as high up the league table as possible,” he said.

“We know we will have a say in the title.

“We are already looking at the players as possible players for next season and we have told the boys to go out and show us how good they are.

“They are all onboard and share our aim of wanting to try and get into the top three next season.

“We need to go out and win as many games as possible between now and the end of the season.

“With the likes of Rutherglen Glencairn to come, we know we will have a say in who wins this league title.”

Carson and co-manager Chris Cameron have already added a number of players during their relatively short stint at Brig O’Lea, including former Johnstone Burgh skipper Scott Robson.

And with his thoughts already turned to a possible promotion push next season, Carson is hoping to add to his squad.

He continued: “We want to bring in three or four bodies to give the boys a helping hand.

“Teams in this league should all be pretty even next season and it should be a level playing field.

“We want to make a push for the league and will be aiming to finish as high as possible.

“We want to bring boys in who can start games and who will give us that little bit extra experience.

“We have been looking at wide players and would still like to add a couple to improve us.

“Another striker would be good, to take the burden off Paul Stewart.

“We need a strong squad.”

Neilston are out of action again this weekend and Carson is already eyeing the Cumbernauld clash next month.

He said: “We are expecting a really tough game. Cumbernauld are the best footballing team in the league.”