GOAL hero Ross Docherty is hoping Saturday's 1-0 win away to Dunfermline Athletic will give Ayr United a considerable boost in their bid to beat the drop.

The midfielder bagged the victory-clinching goal early in the second half as the Honest Men chalked up their second win in three Championship games ahead of Saturday's home clash with fellow strugglers Dumbarton.

Docherty, who shrugged off a tight hamstring to play in the crunch match is rarely on target and said: "It was nice to score a goal, it's just my second of the season and I have doubled my tally from last season. But the most important thing is that we won the game. We worked really hard for it. We don't have a great record at East End Park so it was great to get a win there and it means we have dragged Dunfermline into the relegation zone - the more teams who are down there the more chance we have of staying up."

United on Saturday host Dumbarton, just five weeks after battling back to secure a 2-2 draw away to the Sons and they gained two points on their weekend opponents, who drew 2-2 with league leaders Hibernian.

Docherty added: "It's a massive match and we must look to take the three points. We are only focusing on Dumbarton but the target is to stay up and hopefully we can achieve that. Everyone is working hard."

Manager Ian McCall was delighted with the players' efforts and said: "It was a great result considering two of the players, Ross Docherty and Robbie Crawford were not 100 per cent fit and Nicky Devlin had been ill the night before."

However the manager is refusing to get carried away and said: "It was a good three points and we worked really hard and missed a few chances. But the Dunfermline game's past and we must focus on Dumbarton. I am not interested in other results we must only think about ourselves. It's a really big game against Dumbarton and hopefully you will see more of us going forward. We are a home and must look to pick up the three points."

Docherty, Crawford and Devlin should all play.

And the hosts have been given an added boost with the news that Jamie Adams and Peter Murphy look set to return from injury.