TOP gun Lawrence Shankland is dreaming of winning his first title this weekend as Ayr United close in on Ladbrokes League One glory.

Scotland’s leading marksman knows the Honest Men are tantalisingly close to raising the flag after pulling five points clear of rivals Raith Rovers with three games to go.

If Ayr beat Stranraer on Saturday and Raith fail to win at home against Queen’s Park, it’s party time at Somerset Park.

However, both Shankland and boss Ian McCall – who have scooped the Ladbrokes player and manager awards for March – know they can’t get carried away.

The 22-year-old striker, who has slammed 26 league goals, said: “It would be very special to win a title as I have never done it at senior level.

“But we have to stay focused on what we’re trying to do because of the way things have gone this season.

“I think we were eight points clear at one point and then very quickly we found ourselves eight behind.

“But now, after a brilliant run of games, we are back in control. We can’t let our standards drop and simply concentrate on trying to beat Stranraer on Saturday.”

Ayr have been relentless with five wins and a draw in March followed by a vital 2-1 away victory at Airdrie last Saturday when Shankland netted the winner.

He said: “It’s been a fantastic season so far but we haven’t done it yet so we need to keep going.

“Of course, it’s been a great season for me in terms of the goals I have scored and you want to finish it all off.

“It would be great to get this club back up to the Championship and we know we are so close now.”

Boss McCall has been promoted twice n his managerial career but has never been a champion so it would be so special for the 53-year-old.

However, he too is demanding that his players keep their minds on the job as Ayr seek to get straight back to the Championship at the first attempt after losing out in the play-offs to Brechin City last season.

McCall said: “For a club like us to score over 120 goals this season is fantastic but we haven’t achieved anything yet.

“We’ve had a terrific run picking up 25 points out of 27 but we have to keep it going.

“It’s great to win the Ladbrokes awards again but a lot of the credit has to go to Neil Scally, Chris Higgins and Derek Stillie.

“Stranraer are fighting to get into the play-offs and they have just won three in a row so we know we are in for a tough match.

“But Somerset will be rocking on Saturday and I’m sure the players will feed off that.”