TALBOT could have done without another away cup tie.

That's according to Beechwood gaffer, Tommy Sloan, after his side were handed an away tie, and a 120 mile round trip, in the first round of the senior Scottish Cup against Wigtown and Bladnoch.

Should Talbot negotiate their way past the South of Scotland outfit then they face a potential second round all-Ayrshire clash against reigning Scottish Junior Cup holders Beith, also away from home.

Talbot's last four matches in the senior cup have also been away from home.

Sloan said: "It's another away game and that seems to be the the norm for us these days.

"It's just more cost to the club and to our supporters. It's not ideal, but we just have to get on with it."

On the potential second round clash with Premier Division rivals, Beith, Sloan added: "We're familiar with them and they know us so it's a big match. I think if you ask both clubs if they would rather draw someone they were less familiar with then they would. But that's the draw we've been given and we just have to get on with. But we need to get past Wigtown first."

Talbot have suffered shock defeats in the senior cup for the last two years, losing against Edinburgh City in 2014 and then to Cumbernauld Colts last term.

The Talbot boss added: "I was disappointed with our showing last year so we don't want that to happen to us again. We'll be favourites to beat Wigtown and Beith will be favourites to beat Newton Stewart. Then of course Beith are the cup holders so it'll be tough but we want to do better than last year."

Talbots pre-season got underway on Saturday as they racked up a close 2-1 win over Newtongrange Star, both goals coming from striker Mark Shankland.

Sloan said: "It was a decent start and Mark got himself a couple of goals just to pick up from where he left off at the end of last season. He finished the season strongly and scored a few important goals for us in the run in so it was good to see him back at it.

"We had quite a few trialists out as well and I liked what a saw from a coupe of them so we'll have some of them back for another run out and another look at them,"