East Kilbride Thistle boss ready for a break as he prepares for 'mammoth task' next season

East Kilbride Thistle boss Aaron Connolly admits he faces a ‘mammoth task’ to keep improving the club and is happy to have a welcome few weeks off before building for next season.

The Jags finished their 2023/24 campaign on May 18 with a 7-0 humbling at home to Thorn Athletic, which saw them finish seventh in the West of Scotland Fourth Division.

That certainly wasn’t a fair reflection of their campaign as a whole, with Thistle playing some entertaining football, scoring goals for fun themselves and pulling off some impressive wins along the way.

With no wages to offer players, it is a tough task for Connolly and he was never going to work wonders on zero budget. However, he believes he will come back refreshed and determined to tackle that challenge when the club return for pre-season training next month.

He said: “It has been a long, hard slog at times, particularly the last couple of months, but we have a few weeks off now and it is very much needed. I’m tired myself.

“It is a mammoth task we face. This club has had difficult times for many years but I think we are starting to make progress on that. We will sign up some fresh bodies that will give us a wee bit of an injection and we’ll hope to add to that to try and make us more competitive next season.

“I think the boys can look back and realise we have had some really good moments and performances over the season. We just need to be more consistent with that and, hopefully, we can see that happen next season. We are working to add another couple of players and, hopefully before pre-season we will have everything done.”

Asked if he was setting his sights on promotion for next season after a top half finish in this season’s standings, Connolly added: “I don’t like