East Kilbride Thistle boss wants side to hit the ground running as business is done early

East Kilbride Thistle boss Aaron Connolly wants his side to hit the ground running this season, and reckons getting business done early is the key.

Jags brought in five new players on pre-contracts towards the end of the previous campaign, and last week added winger Cailean Campbell from Petershill Under-21s.

Further to that, Connolly has arranged six pre-season friendlies – though he’s not sure if any of them will be at the Showpark, which is undergoing extensive work over the summer.

Thistle will clash with St Roch’s on June 29, Lochar Thistle on July 6, Lanark United on July 10 and Harthill Royal three days later.

Games against Cambuslang Rangers on July 17 and Wishaw on July 20 have more of a chance of being played as home games, but Connolly has it all mapped out.

“We start back pre-season on June 17,” said Connolly. “We’re looking forward to getting back and we’ve taken on a number of games, because we’re going to have a fair amount of new players, with six confirmed, and hopefully two or three still to come over the course of the next couple of weeks.

“We’re not 100 per cent sure exactly what we’re going to play at home yet, but the ones towards the tail-end of July should be.

“We’re just going to wait and see how the pitch is. There has been some work done on the pitch, we’ll see how that pans out and, if not, they will be at a neutral venue.

“Certainly the first couple will be at Toryglen, and then hopefully from about mid-July the pitch will be in a condition that we can play on it.

“But these games give the boys the best opportunity to gel and work together before we get into the real stuff at the end of July.”

Connolly added: “We can hit the ground running. What this club has lacked is continuity and we’ve