Shotts assistant Martin Devlin says his side face a real test against St Cadoc’s on Saturday, after labelling their opponents as a ‘title favourite’.
Devlin is looking forward to getting stuck in to the West of Scotland First Division, and says their Hannah Park opener against the Glasgow club will show them how far they have progressed this summer.
Devlin reckons Shotts are as prepared as they can be for the season ahead, and said: “It’s exciting to see what Saturday brings, and against a very good team – probably one of the favourites for the league, I would think.
“We know a lot about them, they have a lot of good players, a good management team, and the whole set-up seems really quite impressive since they came in last year.
“I think they’re a team that I would fully expect to be right up there at the end of the season.
“But it’s a chance for us to really see and get an idea of where we’re at, and where the level is of the guys we’ve brought in.
“We have brought in some new faces, which has been great, but there have been a few younger guys brought in from under-21s football.”
Devlin also believes there will be a clamour from clubs looking to get into the top flight next season.
He added: “It’s an interesting start, a really competitive league, and on paper probably one of the most difficult leagues since I can remember.
“Even when you look back to the old juniors set-up when you had the Super First Division, everybody was fighting to try and get into that top league.
“But in terms of quality, it’s as strong as anything I can remember.
“On paper it looks like it’s going to be a very competitive league.
“There are a lot of good sides, and hopefully we can give a decent account of ourselves this season.”
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