Chris Erskine has revealed Stevie Aitken’s first act on meeting his East Kilbride players for training was to warn them they have a target on their backs this season.
The Kilby midfielder joined his new team-mates for their maiden pre-season session last Thursday night.
And Erskine told Lanarkshire Live Sport Aitken wasted little time in outlining what his players will be up against this season, with their summer signing spree landing them the favourites tag before a ball has even been kicked.
The 33-year-old joins the likes of fellow ex-Jag Paul Paton and former Rangers midfielder Kyle Hutton in the squad and he said: “Being favourites is something we’ve just got to deal with.
“The manager spoke about it right away as soon as we came in for training.
“He said we’ve got a strong squad and there’s a good chance we’ll be the team to beat, the scalp everyone is looking for.
“So he told us we are only going to get results if we work hard, it’s not enough just to have decent players, you’ve got to work for it.
“The manager and the coaching staff have all stressed that we need to work hard to achieve things – and that starts now with pre-season.
“It was months ago all the new players signed, so we’ve all been counting down the days and it was good to get back on Thursday and in again on Saturday.
“It was a good standard. The boys have looked after themselves during lockdown and over the summer, so it’s looking good.”
Given his Premiership days with Dundee United, Partick Thistle and Livingston, Erskine is used to playing with and against high-calibre players.
But he admits he will relish the new experience facing him at East Kilbride, as they must handle the pressure of expectation.
He added: “Even when I was at Thistle and we won the title, we were probably one of a few teams that could have won the league that year, so it will be a bit different.
“But I don’t think we are outright favourites to win the league.
“I think Kelty, having won the league last year, the pressure is on them as well.
“And you’ve got other teams who have signed good players, like East Stirlingshire and BSC Glasgow, who had a good run in the Scottish Cup last year, so it’s going to be a good standard – and better than a lot of people probably think it will be.
“I’m looking forward to it and that’s just the pressure that comes with the manager signing good players and having a good squad.
“We are expected to go and perform and hopefully we go and do that.”
Erskine and his team-mates have been getting used to the new normal and will train again twice this week ahead of upcoming friendly matches, which the club hope to announce shortly.
Rigorous checks are in place at K-Park and Covid protocols are being followed at all times to allow their safe return to action, scheduled for next month when the Lowland League kicks-off on October 10.
“I was wondering if training was going to feel any different, but once it started it was good and it was pretty normal,” said Erskine.
“The only thing is we aren’t allowed in the changing rooms.
“We had our temperatures taken and we were socially distant in the stand getting our stuff on.
“It went really well and there was a good pace to the session.”
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