Rutherglen Glencairn boss won't change anything for Gartcairn WoSL opener

Rutherglen Glencairn go into the unknown on Saturday when they clash with Gartcairn for the first time, but boss Willie Harvey is only concerned about how his side plays.

Glencairn welcome the Airdrie club to the Hamish B. Allan Stadium for their West of Scotland League First Division curtain-raiser, hoping to get off to good start in what is likely to be a tough league.

But Harvey says worrying about opposition teams only leads to over-complications.

He said: “We know their players, and their management set-up, how they played last season and things like that, so we have an idea.

“But I’ve always been a great advocate that I don’t concern myself about other teams, because then you start to muddle yourself up a wee bit, instead of sticking to what you want to do, and letting other teams worry about you.

“That’s why when we were in the Scottish Junior Cup I never used to go and watch teams unless we got to the quarter-finals or semi-finals.

“This is the way we play. Why change it to try and counter-act, because if you’re doing that all it does is nullifies them.

“We’ll play our own shape, and have a go at it.

“Otherwise you’re just mixing your own players up, and they’re thinking ‘they don’t know their own shape, or what shape we’re going to play’.

“We’ll stick to our own shape, and let Gartcairn worry about us.”

Glencairn ended their pre-season programme with a 3-1 home defeat to Beith last Wednesday, but followed that up with a 2-0 win over Third Division side East Kilbride Thistle to win the Hamish B. Allan Centenary Cup on Saturday, with goals from Jack McIlveen and Isaac Frain.

Harvey said: “Pre-season went reasonably well. We had some good tests against Premier League clubs in Cambuslang and Cumnock, Cumbernauld