Michael Kennedy says it’s Darvel’s job to fend off hungry title challengers.
A whole host of teams will be coming for the Irvine Valley side’s West of Scotland League Premier Division crown – and boss Kennedy knows it’s going to be an uphill task fending them off.
‘Vale missed out on promotion to the Lowland League last season so they’ll have to go again in tier six.
Kennedy is relishing the chance to do battle once again in what he reckons is one of the most competitive leagues in the country.
Auchinleck Talbot will be aiming to mount a charge to win the title back, and the likes of Pollok, Clydebank, Kilwinning Rangers and Hurlford United will all be looking up.
He told the Kilmarnock Standard: “We finished above some really good teams. They will come back hungry and will try to compete.
"Auchinleck will certainly be coming to try and win their title back, teams like Pollok and Kilwinning have strengthened, as have others.
“It’s exciting to be part of it again, it’ll be interesting to see what dynamics the 16-team league brings.”
He continued: “It brings a different challenge this season. I’ve always felt any time I’ve been successful anywhere that the second year is the hardest.
“It can be easy to get complacent, take your eye off the ball and think you’re already good enough.
“I don’t think how we played last year will win us the league, we will need to be better. But hopefully with everyone back we will be able to push on.”
Meanwhile, Kennedy has secured a number of last season’s Darvel squad on longer-term contracts. He has retained most of his regular starters, with many of them penning two-year deals.
He said: “I think everyone would have said last season before a ball was kicked that we had a really strong squad.
“As the season progressed we had a few issues with injuries and things which diluted it a bit, but in the main I think we had one of the strongest squads at this level.
“I didn’t feel there was much need to change things over, I think if we can get everyone back fit and add another couple of faces it will hopefully go to plan.”
He added: “There’s always this perception that boys are coming for large sums of money and they’re only here to get back into the SPFL.
“I don’t think that’s the case for either to be honest, obviously when the challenge of promotion is there you want to be successful though.
“We didn’t manage that unfortunately, but the whole team is committed to the project, you seen that with the fact they’ve signed two-year deals in the main.”
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