Yoker captain Gary Bissland insists all hope is not lost in his side’s battle to avoid relegation after their stunning 3-1 win away to Maryhill at the weekend.

The Whe Ho were sitting five points behind Shettleston in safety just last week but results went their way this weekend with the Town losing out 1-0 at home to Wishaw before Yoker reduced the gap to just two points with their crucial win at Lochburn Park.

Shettleston may still have a game in hand over Yoker but that will come against promotion-chasing Blantyre this weekend with Bissland confident his side’s destiny will be in their own hands.

He said: “It was a great performance on Saturday. We created a lot of chances so we could have actually won the game even more comfortably. It was a must-win match for us so that makes the performance even better. I think that would have been game over for us if we lost or drew.

Read more: Jamie Waddell a bright spark in an otherwise grim run-in for Yoker

“Elsewhere, Shettleston losing was a big bonus for us. The thing is, we don’t play now till May 18 and Shettleston will finish their season before then so we’ll know what we have to do. It’s not ideal having this big of a gap at this stage, but we’re just hoping we have a chance when we get back to it and there’s something left to play for.

“We know they need to take something from their remaining games.”

The skipper continued: “They still have to play against some good teams so if they don’t win we have a good chance. It’ll be a bit of a tense couple of weeks checking their scores and waiting to see what happens. They’re away to Blantyre in their game in hand this weekend which will be a really difficult one. I think Blantyre are one of the best sides in the league. We are hopeful they’ll drop points but it won’t mean anything if we don’t win our own matches so that’s the most important thing.”

While the veteran midfielder is optimistic about his side’s chances, he is also realistic in that this league is unpredictable and they could easily find themselves down in the West Region League Two in a couple of weeks time if results were not to go their way.

He added: “Of course I hope we don’t go down but at the same time I’ve been there before in being relegated to the bottom league.

Read more: Frustration setting in as Yoker suffer another heavy defeat

“That was actually the best thing that happened to us at that moment in time as we bounced straight back with back-to-back promotions. Hopefully we beat the drop this season, but if we don’t then it’s not the end of the world.

“If we do manage to stay up, I would fully expect us to challenge for the title next season. The standard of player coming in now after Peter McKenna and Tommy Montgomery took over and the standard of training and fitness has helped us improve a lot.

“We have strengthened a lot both on and off the pitch in a short space of time - hopefully it’s enough to keep us in this league come the end of the season.”