East Kilbride boss Chris Aitken is keen for his side to continue their momentum on three fronts after another successful Lowland League outing - but watching their latest step in that quest from the side was tough.
Kilby are second in Scotland's fifth tier after a comfortable 3-0 win at K-Park over Gala Fairydean Rovers. Cameron Elliot, Joao Victoria and Liam Watt goals inside 30 minutes sealed a good day's work.
Bonnyrigg Rose have already wrapped up the league title and a chance to play for SPFL football next season, but Aitken wants his men to finish the season strongly.
On top of that, they are also in the Lowland League Cup and South Challenge Cup competitions, with the EK boss keen for them to push on in every contest.
Aitken said: "I want to finish the season as strongly as possible so Saturday was another good day at the office for us.
"The players are playing for second place and they are in two cups. My challenge to the players is urging them to try and win these two cups.
"It's over to them. I need them to show me that they want to be here next season and that they want to be up there and mix it up. We need to finish second.
"That's the objective there. We want to finish strong for the hard work they have done. It's up to them to see it through."
The Kilby boss watched Saturday's game for the stands after a sending off against Stirling University in their previous game. Aitken admits it was an odd experience with not much control.
He commented: "I wasn't allowed to do anything. From quarter to two, I wasn't allowed any contact with them until the clock hit five.
"That side of it was hard. I was allowed to keep in contact with my coaches, so I could speak to them on the phone. I said to them what I wanted to hit home.
"My coaching staff stepped up for me and it was another win ticked off for us."
Part of the reason for East Kilbride's seven-game winning run is how quickly they are starting matches. Finishing off Gala Fairydean inside 30 minutes was more proof of how important a fast start can be.
Aitken explained: "I've always said to the guys that the start is important in this league. The success we are having just now with racking up wins, it's been down to start we have had.
"We have come out of the blocks flying. They did that on Saturday. We started really well, got on front foot. We got to 3-0 and took our foot off the gas.
"The way we have been starting games recently has been crucial and they have done everything I have asked of them. This was no different.
"I couldn't say to them at half-time to keep it going because of my one-game suspension but the pleasing thing was they managed the game well in the second half.
"They scored late on but we were always in control."
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