East Kilbride boss warns of Lowland League complacency as gap emerges at summit

East Kilbride boss Kevin Rutkiewicz has warned his players against complacency after the Lowland League leaders moved clear at the top of the table.

Kilby are two points ahead of Rangers B – who can’t be crowned champions as per the rules of their inclusion in the fifth tier – and six points in front of third place Caledonian Braves after eight games.

Rutkiewicz watched EK come from behind to earn a last-gasp 3-2 victory at Spartans on Saturday to pick up their seventh win of the season, but with the visit of East Stirling tonight and Edinburgh Uni on Saturday to come, he says they can’t take the foot off the gas against some of the so-called smaller teams.

He said: “It’s a big week for us and I think we’d all agree that, on paper, we’ve done the hard bit of this week going to Spartans and winning at a very difficult venue against a very good team.

“So our next two homes games are so big because we can’t get complacent.

“We need to treat these teams like we are playing a Rangers B, Celtic B or a Spartans. This is the kind of game that tells you what this team is all about.

“In the past we’ve dropped points against teams that aren’t going so well, so we need to be really ruthless against East Stirling and Edinburgh Uni.

“We need to take the game to them and make sure they don’t think they can come here and kick-start their seasons.

“I’ve said that how we start the season can define it - as it did last year - and our start has put us in a position now where we will be fighting at the top end of the league.

“It’s up to us to keep ourselves there at that business end.

“There is a wee bit of daylight there at the moment but I’m well aware we are only eight games in and if Tranent win their two games in hand, they are only two