Rutherglen Glencairn boss Willie Harvey won’t go overboard with some pre-season cup wins – because they’re heading into a “cut-throat” league.
Harvey reckons there will be at least five or six clubs vying for the top spots in the West of Scotland League First Division and he wants Glencairn to be one of them.
Glencairn prepared for the season with a trophy win in the Townhead tournament, winning 1-0 against Cumbernauld United in their semi-final on Saturday, before beating holders Cumnock 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
It comes after last week’s William Skinner Memorial Cup win over local rivals Cambuslang Rangers. Glencairn now host Beith Juniors tonight (Wednesday) before tackling Third Division East Kilbride Thistle for the Hamish B. Allan Centenary Cup on Saturday.
The following weekend they host Gartcairn in their league opener and Harvey said: “You don’t read too much into friendlies, tournaments and all that – teams are just preparing for the season.
“So we’re not going to go overboard, we’re going to be cautious.
“We’ve got to get off to a good start – this is going to be a cut-throat league this year.
“There are going to be at least four or five teams, possibly six, fighting at the top for the three positions, and we certainly intend to be one of them.”
Darren Burns scored Glens’ winner on Saturday, and Michael Lone bagged their leveller on Sunday, before Tommy Lone, Scott Schoneville, Darren Burns and Connor Neilson netted penalties,
while Matt McGinley saved two.
Harvey added: “It has been a good exercise and has shown our fitness.
“We’ve played against a team from our own division and one from the top division, but we’re not going overboard.
“We know Cumbernauld were short of bodies, we know Cumnock were short, and we were as well.
“It was a great performance, the boys worked really hard and played some nice football at times – and under those conditions it showed the level of fitness is up towards the standards that we’re looking for.”
Harvey says his squad is looking strong, and some senior players might be in for a surprise.
“The younger players are performing well and breathing down the senior players’ necks a wee bit,” he warned.
“It shows that the conveyor belt from the 21s is still working.
“Hopefully we’ll have a full squad to choose from for Gartcairn.
“That’s what we want, it’s competition. You don’t want players just to go away and walk back into the team very easily – they’re going to have to prove they have the right to earn a place again.”
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