East Kilbride Thistle boss has relished tough pre-season against top opposition

East Kilbride Thistle boss Garry O’Hanlon has made a conscious effort to line up friendlies against top opposition this summer, as he wants his players to be tested ahead of their league opener.

O’Hanlon has targeted teams in leagues above them so that their players are ready for the challenge when they kick off their West of Scotland League Third Division campaign at Lugar Boswell Thistle on July 30.

Tests against the likes of Troon, Petershill and Bonnyton Thistle have really pushed the players and O'Hanlon, whose side face Rutherglen Glencairn this afternoon, said: "We’ve played against teams in the divisions above us because we aren’t going to win anything from playing lower teams.

“We don’t want to give ourselves any false hope so these games are a proper test. We are still gelling the team together and trying to ensure that we play the game in the right way.

“I think that we will be in a good position come the start of the season.”

O’Hanlon can’t wait for the season to start and added: “I’m absolutely buzzing.

“We’ve really tested ourselves in pre-season and we’ve had to be at our best to compete in these games.

“We keep improving with each passing week and we will be in a really good place next season.

“It’s not just a case of bringing in bigger names because we’ve been working hard to get a system in place – we aren’t just throwing them on the park.

“We can’t just get away with turning up, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

"We are working really hard and we face Rutherglen Glencairn on Saturday.

“It’s all teams that are above us in the pyramid and we feel very confident.”

Kick-off against Rutherglen Glencairn is 2pm at the Hamish B Allan Stadium.

Meanwhile, the Jags will face a real challenge in the first