East Kilbride Thistle boss Iain Diack hopes West of Scotland clubs don’t adopt a “sh***y” attitude as they bid to get fixtures ‘flipped’.
But he admits Jags are at the mercy of the West of Scotland League and fellow clubs while their new Showpark pitch beds in.
Thistle have been given home games in Conference C against Glasgow Perthshire and St Roch’s, either side of a visit to Wishaw, to start the season. They're next on the road at Vale of Leven on July 28, before they’re back at home against Ardrossan Winton Rovers.
However, their new pitch won’t be ready until August, so Jags need to ask for ‘away’ games in their first few weeks.
Diack said: “With the position we’re in all the fixtures are pretty difficult but we’re happy with what we’ve got and we’ll get on with it.
“We’re still looking for a wee bit of clarification from the league in terms of getting our new pitch, which obviously isn’t going to be for the first league game of the season.
“We’re hoping the clubs show a wee bit of a progressive attitude and we get a wee bit of help in that respect.
“I don’t see it being too much of a big deal just to change the fixtures that we have at home to away fixtures.
“I don’t see how it affects the scheduling or crowds or anything like that.
“It will be down to the other clubs as well, but we’ll be willing to do that for any other club, if anybody came to us and said there was a problem with their pitch, can we have it at our place.
“If the league leave it to the clubs I don’t see many problems – there might be one or two clubs who try to gain an advantage from saying they’ll play us at their place but it’s going down as our home game, type of thing.
“That would be a bit sh***y of clubs, but I could maybe see something like that happening.
“You would hope the clubs would have a bit of integrity ab out them, and just take the home game, and then they come and visit our place when it’s finished later on in the season.”
Diack says the pitch is looking good and hopes there are no snags.
He said: “As far as I’m aware it’s on schedule. The turf was lifted two weeks ago now, the sand was put down, all the seed was put down and it’s been watered.
“Allgrass, the company that are doing it, have been back to look after it, I think it’s just been fertilised again and re-seeded, so it’s just now a waiting game for the grass getting through and growing.
“I’ve been over there and it looks like it’s coming on quite well, so hopefully it will be the first couple of weeks in August.”
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