Glenrothes will be in it to win it

The league has announced its fixture list for the new campaign, with Glenrothes hosting Hawick Royal Albert United in the first game of the first division conference B season on Saturday, July 17.

The 2020/21 season was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic but there is reason for optimism that things will be more normal this year, including supporters continuing to be allowed back at grounds.

Martin, co-manager of Glenrothes with Kevin Smith, says there’s no reason why the Warout club shouldn’t set their sights high.

“We were excited to get the friendlies going, but you can’t beat a competitive game,” he said. “It’s going to be good to be back playing for points, and it’s a home game as well so it gives the fans a chance to come and see us play our first competitive game for a long time.

“We want to push as high as we can in the league this season. I’m a believer that you should be going in to win it.

“There’s not point going in and not trying to win it.

“We know it’ll be tough. There are a few good teams in there with good squads, but we have to compete, do our best and get as high in the league as we can.

“Especially with the reconstruction of the leagues, we don’t want to be playing in these conferences again, so myself and Kevin will be pushing the squad as hard as we can to get up to the top.”

Like other clubs across the area, Glens are still having their pre-season preparations hampered by Covid-19.

Some arranged games over the weekend had to be called off at short notice as safety continues to come first.

Glens were able to take to the field, going down 4-1 to Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts, but their bosses were frustrated not to have their full squad to choose from.

“It’s been a bit of a nightmare,” Martin conceded.

“We’ve had boys self-isolating and I don’t think we’ve been able to get started.

“Trying to work on shape and things like that is difficult when you have four or five boys self-isolating.

“In the games we’ve played, we’d have two or three missing, they would come back, then another two or three would be missing.”