STEVIE EASTON is hoping the signing of two young guns can help Petershill dump in-form Beith on Saturday.

The Peasy boss has tied up a four-week loan deal with Partick Thistle that sees teenage Iranian prospect Pedram Ardalany move to New Petershill Park.

A further boost comes from 20-year-old former Elgin and Stenhousemuir midfielder Alan Lindsay joining up.

Both were impressive in Monday's 1-0 friendly win over Maryhill, a game arranged to let them prove their worth as well as providing a much-needed 90 minutes for ex-Hamilton ace Ross McCabe after he was given the all-clear following surgery.

Easty said: "Pedram and Alan have been training with us for a number of weeks so it was important to see how they fitted into a competitive match.

"Both exceeded expectations and have now played themselves into our thoughts for Beith, particularly as our squad is down to only 15 or 16 fit players.

"Steven Lowe was carried off against Cumnock and could well be out long term if it is confirmed he has a cartilage problem."

The return of McCabe would compensate for the loss of ex-Celtic youth skipper Lowe, but Easty is reluctant to rush the 20-year-old defender, who suffered heart failure playing for Hamilton against Clyde two years ago.

He added: "Ross looked the part in early-season, so having him back is a boost for us and for the lad himself. He's a bit ring rusty but we'll work towards getting him match-fit in much the same way as we did by playing Gerry Joyce and Stevie Dallas for 90 minutes against Maryhill."

Turning his attention to the Ayrshire visitors, whose fans must regard Petershill as a bogey team in the wake of seven consecutive defeats, the Peasy boss said: "The past has no bearing on Saturday's result because we are up against a strong Beith side who are scoring a lot of goals through Kenny McLean and Andy Reid.

"In fact, Johnny Miller has not received the credit he deserves for the terrific job he has done in improving them as a team this season and, on current form, they must surely be regarded as potential champions."

Miller, fresh from the sale of want-away frontman Stevie Dymock to Rob Roy, was also full of plaudits for his opponents.

He said: "Petershill have a rock-solid defensive unit and goalscoring chances are few and far between against them. Easty recently said he felt David Merriman was due a Junior Scotland cap, but I would say he probably has three defenders capable of playing at that level.

"They will be hard to crack open, however I feel any mistakes they do make will be punished by our front pair who are enjoying a great run of form."

The leaky backline which proved to be the Ayrshire outfit's Achilles heel in last season's title run-in appears to have been sorted by Miller's recent dealings on the transfer market which have resulted in Keith Ross and Derek McCulloch (ex-Kilwinning) and Craig Britton (Dumbarton) supplementing the Bellsdale playing ranks.

Miller added: "We're looking a lot tighter and the two goals scored by Irvine Meadow last week were the first ones conceded by Keith since coming on board.

"Hopefully, we can keep a clean sheet at Petershill because there might not be a lot between the teams come the final whistle."

A painful shin knock makes Junior international Martin McGarvey a doubt for the visitors who are also likely to be without John Craig because of a long-standing hip problem.