JOHNSTONE BURGH co-manager Colin Smith insists his side's battling draw at Neilston shows they have the stomach to stave off relegation.

The 0-0 draw at Brig O'Lea wasn't enough to lift Burgh off the bottom of the Central District First Division after the Keanie Park side registered just five points from their opening nine games.

After staying in the league with ease last season it looks like Burgh will be in a scrap for survival this campaign. But despite having a largely young squad, Smith has taken heart from the determined nature of their display at Neilston, saying they set the standard for how Burgh should perform each week.

He said: "The performance was a lot better, both teams created chances and it was a good game to watch I thought. It was a good Renfrewshire derby battle and overall a draw was probably a fair result.

"We've been drumming into the guys that it's hard work that will get us out of this mess, hopefully this can be the turning point and they'll start believing a bit because they have been working hard.

"They've been unlucky at times and it's hard, especially for the younger guys to have defeat after defeat, but hopefully they'll believe in what we are saying now because it was hard work against Neilston that got us the point.

"But it is about putting that type of performance in every week."

Smith and fellow co-boss Davie Brolly have been on the lookout for new signings after four fringe players recently departed Keanie Park. However Smith is confident in the squad at his disposal and won't rush into decisions on new recruits.

He added: "We've not brought anyone else in yet, we've been enquiring about certain players but just with some managers that we know, there's not much available at the moment.

"We need to be selective over who we bring in because we need reliability as well as a bit of quality. We've still got a good group of players, we're not in any desperate rush because we're not short of bodies, it's just one or two with a bit of quality we feel could help us."